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THE 

LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

By Elmore Barce 

Member of the State and National Bar Associations 

Member Indiana State Historical Society 

Author "Land of the Potawatomi" 




An Account of the Struggle to 
Secure Possession of the North- 
West from the End of the Rev- 
olution until 1812. 



Fowler, Indiana 

THE BENTON REVIEW SHOP 

1922 



V- 



^\ 



Copyrighted, 1922, by the 
Benton Review Shop, Fowler, Ind. 



Photos and Maps by 
Lieut. Don Heaton 



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JUL 28 '22 

©CIAHRli24 
/ 



Dedicated to 

CARRIE MAY BARCE 

My Wife. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

A BRIEF RETROSPECT— A general view of the 
Indian Wars of the Early Northwest 1 

WHAT THE VIRGINIANS GAVE US— A topo- 
graphical description of the country north of the 
Ohio at the close of Revolutionary War 6 

THE BEAVER TRADE— A description of the 
wealth in furs of this section at the close of the 
Revolutionary War and the reasons underlying 
the sti^ggle for its control 12 

THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO— T/^e buffalo 
as the main food supply of the Indians 20 

THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE— CMe/ line 
of communication with the tribes of the Early 
Northwest. The heart of the Miami country 34 

THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST— A descrtp- 
tio7i of the seven tribes of savages who opposed 
the advance of settlement in the Northwest. Their 
location. Kekionga, the seat of Miami power 44 

REAL SAVAGES — The Savage painted in his true 
colors from the standpoint of the frontiersman.... 68 

OUR INDIAN POLICY— r/ie Indixin right of occw- 
pancy recognized through the liberal policy of 
Washington and Jefferson 80 

THE KENTUCKIANS— r/ie first men to break 
through the mountain barriers to face the British 
and the Indians 112 



THE BRITISH POLICIES— T/ie British reluctant 
to surrender the control of the Northwest — Their 
tampering with the Indian tribes 126 

JOSIAH HARMAR — The first military invasion of 
the Northwest by the Federal Government after 
the Revolution 145 

SCOTT AND WILKINSON— T/te Kentucky raids on 
the Miami country along the Wabash in 1791 173 

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT— The first great disaster to 
the Federal armies brought about by the Miamis.. 195 

WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS— i^ma? tri- 
umph of the Government over Indians and British 207 

THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE— T/ie surrender 

V 

of the Ohio lands of the Miamis and their final 
submission to the government 238 

GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY— 
Purchase of the Miami lands known as the New 
Purchase which led to the strengthening of Te- 
cumseh's Confederacy — the final struggle at Tip- 
pecanoe 245 

RESULTS OF THE TREATY— Harrison's political 
enemies at Vincennes rally against him in the 
open, and are defeated in the courts 271 

THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS— T/ie Prophet as an 
Indian priest and Tecumseh as a political orgarb- 
izer — The episode of the eclipse of 1806 — TecuTn- 
seh's personal appearance described 280 

PROPHET'S TOWN— The capital of the Shawnee 
Confederacy in the heart of the Miami Country.... 295 

HARRISON'S VIGILANCE— His political courage 
and activities save the frontier capital 305 



vu 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES— T/ie dramatic 
meeting between Harrison and Tecumseh — Te- 
cumseh announces his doctrine of the common 
ownership of the Indian lands 316 

THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL— T/ie last 
meeting between the two leaders before Harrison 
marched into the Indian country 332 

THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH— T/^e rally of 
the Kentuckians and their clansmen in southern 
Indiana to Harrison's support — The coming of the 
Fourth United States Regiment — The march to 
the Tippecanoe battlefield 352 

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE— T/ie night at- 
tack on Harrison's forces — The destruction of 
Tecumseh' s Confederacy 371 

NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE— A description of the 
battle by one of the volunteers 381 



LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

1. The Home of General William Henry Harrison, 

at Vincennes, as it now appears Frontispiece 

2. A Section of the Grand Prairie in Benton Coun- 
ty, Indiana, which extends West to Peoria, Illi- 
nois 25 

3. A Typical Buffalo Wallow on the Donaldson 
Farm, in Benton County, Indiana 33 

4. The Wabash River at Merom Bluff, Sullivan 
County, Indiana — LaMotte Prairie beyond 41 

5. Location of the Indian Tribes of the Northwest 57 

6. Shaubena, the best of the Potawatomi Chiefs, 

and a follower of Tecumseh 73 

7. Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the 
United States 97 

8. Map of the Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne Cam- 
paigns 161 

9. Map showing the Wea Plains, and the Line of 
Scott's March. Tippecanoe County, Indiana.... 185 

10. Indian Hills on the Wabash River, just below 

the old site of Fort Ouiatenon 193 

11. General Anthony Wayne and Little Turtle, at 
Greenville. From an old painting by one of 
Wayne's staff 241 

12. Governor William Henry Harrison.. 257 



13. Another View of the Wabash. A land of great 
beauty 291 

14. Raccoon Creek, Parke County, Indiana. The 
North Line of the New Purchase 323 

15. The Line of Harrison's March to Tippecanoe 

and the New Purchase of 1809 363 

16. Pine Creek, in Warren County, Indiana, near 

the place where Harrison crossed 371 

17. Judge Isaac Naylor. From an old portrait in 

the Court Room at Williamsport, Indiana 387 



PREFACE 
In presenting this book to the general public, it is 
the intention of the author to present a connected story 
of the winning of the Northwest, including the Indian 
wars during the presidency of General Washington, 
following this with an account of the Harrison-Tecumseh 
conflict in the early part of the nineteenth century, end- 
ing with the Battle of Tippecanoe. 

The story embraces all of the early efforts of the 
Republic of the United States to take possession of the 
Northwest Territory, acquired from Great Britain by the 
Treaty of 1783 closing the Revolutionary War. The 
whole western country was a wilderness filled with savage 
tribes of great ferocity, and they resisted every effort of 
the government to advance its outposts. Back of them 
stood the agents of England who had retained the west- 
ern posts of Detroit, Niagara, Oswego, Michillimacinac 
and other places in order to command the lucrative fur 
trade, and who looked upon the advance of the American 
traders and settlers with jealousy and alarm. They en- 
couraged the savages in their resistance, furnished them 
with arms and ammunition, and at times covertly aided 
them with troops and armed forces. In other words, 
this is a part of that great tale of the winning of the 
west. 

We are well aware that there is a very respectable 
school of historians who insist that the British took no 
part in opposing the American advance, but the cold and 



indisputable facts of history, the words of Washington 
himself, contradict this view. England never gave up 
the idea of retrieving her lost possessions in the western 
country until the close of the War of 1812. 

An attempt has also been made in this work to pre- 
sent some of the great natural advantages of the North- 
west; its wealth of furs and peltries, and its easy means 
of communication with the British posts. The leading 
tribes inhabiting its vast domain, the Indian leaders con- 
trolling the movements of the warriors, and the respec- 
tive schemes of Brant and Tecumseh to form an Indian 
confederacy to drive the white man back across the Ohio, 
are all dwelt upon. 

The writer is confessedly partial to the western 
frontiersmen. The part that the Kentuckians played in 
the conquest of the Northwest is set forth at some length. 
The foresight of Washington and Jefferson, the heroism 
of Logan, Kenton, Boone and Scott and their followers, 
play a conspicuous part. The people of the eastern states 
looked with some disdain upon the struggles of the west- 
ern world. They gave but scanty support to the govern- 
ment in its attempts to subdue the Indian tribes, voted 
arms and supplies with great reluctance, and condemned 
the borderers as savages and barbarians. There is no 
attempt to condemn the eastern people for their short> 
sightedness in this regard, but after all, that is the term 
exactly applicable. The West was won despite their dis- 
couragement, and the empire beyond the mountains was 
conquered notwithstanding their opposition. 

William Henry Harrison has been condemned with- 



out mercy. Much of this hostile criticism has proceeded 
from his political enemies. They have distorted the plain 
facts of history in order to present the arguments of 
faction. Harrison was the greatest man in the western 
world after George Rogers Clark. The revelations of his- 
tory justify his suspicion of the British. The people of 
the West were alone undeceived. The General was al- 
ways popular west of the Alleghenies and justly so. 
Tecumseh and the Prophet were, after all is said, the paid 
agents of the English government, and received their 
inspiration from Detroit. Jefferson knew all these facts 
well, and so wrote to John Adams. Jefferson's heart beat 
for the western people, and throughout the whole conflict 
he stood stoutly on the side of Harrison. 

We recognize the fact that we have done but poorly. 
Out of the great mass of broken and disconnected mate- 
rial, however, we have attempted to arrange a connected 
whole. We submit the volume with many misgivings and 
pray the indulgence of the reading public. We have en- 
deavored at all times to quote nothing that we did not 
deem authentic, and have presented no fact that is not 
based on written records. 

We desire to express our appreciation of the valuable 
help afforded by the State Library people at Indianapolis, 
by Prof. Logan Esarey of Indiana University, who kindly 
loaned us the original Harrison letters, and by Ray Jones 
and Don Heaton of Fowler, Indiana, who were untiring 
in their efforts to give us all the assistance within their 
power. 

E. B. 



CHAPTER I 

A BRIEF RETROSPECT 

— A general view of the Indian Wars of the Early North- 
west. 

The memories of the early prairies, filled with vast 
stretches of waving grasses, made beautiful by an end- 
less profusion of wild flowers, and dotted here and there 
with pleasant groves, are ineffaceable. For the boy who, 
barefooted and care-free, ranged over these plains, in 
search of adventure, they always possessed an inexpress- 
ible charm and attraction. These grassy savannas have 
now passed away forever. Glorious as they were, a 
greater marvel has been wrought by the untiring hand 
of man. Where the wild flowers bloomed, great fields 
of grain ripen, and vast gardens of wheat and corn, inter- 
spersed with beautiful towns and villages, greet the eye 
of the traveler. "The prairies of Illinois and Indiana 
were born of water, and preserved by fire for the children 
of civilized men, who have come and taken possession of 
them." 

In the last half of the eighteenth century, great 
herds of buffalo grazed here, attracting thither the wan- 
dering bands of the Potawatomi, who came from the 
lakes of the north. Gradually these hardy warriors and 
horse tribes drove back the Miamis to the shores of the 
Wabash, and took possession of all that vast plain, ex- 
tending east of the Illinois river, and north of the Wabash 



2 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

into the present confines of the state of Michigan. Their 
squaws cultivated com, peas, beans, squashes and pump- 
kins, but the savage bands lived mostly on the fruits 
of the chase. Their hunting trails extended from grove 
to grove, and from lake to river. 

Reliable Indian tradition informs us that about the 
year 1790, the herds of bison disappeared from the plains 
east of the Mississippi. The deer and the raccoon re- 
mained for some years later, but from the time of the dis- 
appearance of the buffalo, the power of the tribes 
was on the wane. The advance of the paleface and the 
curtailment of the supply of game, marked the begin- 
ning of the savage decline. The constant complaint of 
the tribes to General William Henry Harrison, the first 
military governor of Indiana, was the lack of both game 
and peltries. 

From the first the Indians of the Northwest were pro- 
British. Following the revolutionary war they accepted the 
overtures of England's agents and traders, and the end of 
the long trail was always at Detroit. The motives of 
these agents were purely mercenary. They were tres- 
passers on the American side of the line, for England had 
agreed to surrender all the posts within the new territory 
by the treaty of 1783. The thing coveted was the trade 
in beaver, deer and raccoon skins. In order that this 
might be done, the Americans must be kept south of the 
Ohio. The tribes were taught to regard the crossing of 
the Alleghenies as a direct attempt to dispossess them of 
their native soil. To excite their savage hatred and jeal- 
ousy it was pointed out that a constant stream of keel- 



A BRIEF RETROSPECT 3 

boats, loaded with men, women, children and cattle, were 
descending the Ohio; that Kentucky's population was 
multiplying by thousands, and that the restless swarm of 
settlers and land hunters, if not driven back, would soon 
fill the whole earth. Driven as they were by rage and 
fear, all attempts at treaty with these savages were in 
vain. The Miamis, the Potawatomi and the Shawnees 
lifted the hatchet, and rushed to the attack of both keel 
boats and settlements. 

The wars that followed in the administration of 
George Washington are well known. Back of them all 
stood the sinister figure of the English trader, Harmar 
was defeated at Miamitown, now Fort Wayne ; St. Clair's 
army was annihilated on the head waters of the Wabash. 
For a time the government seemed prostrate, and all at- 
tempts to conquer the savages in their native woods, 
futile. But finally General Anthony Wayne, the hero of 
Stony Point, was sent to the west. He was a fine disci- 
plinarian and a fearless fighter. At the battle of Fallen 
Timbers, in 1794, he broke the power of the northwestern 
Indian confederacy, and in the following year forced the 
tribes into the Treaty of Greenville. 

On July 11th, 1796, the British, under the terms of 
Jay's Treaty, evacuated the post of Detroit, and it passed 
into the hands of its rightful owners, the American peo- 
ple. Well had it been for the red men, if, with this 
passing of the British, all further communication with 
the agents of Great Britain had ceased. Already had 
the tribes acquired a rich legacy of hate. Their long 
intercourse and alliance with the English; their terrible 



\ 



4 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

inroads with fire and tomahawk, on the settlements of 
Kentucky; their shocking barbarities along the Ohio, 
had enraged the hearts of all fighting men south of that 
river. But the British in retiring from American soil 
had passed over to Maiden, near the mouth of the Detroit 
river. Communication with the tribes of the northwest 
was still kept up, and strenuous efforts made to monop- 
olize their trade. At last came Tecumseh and the Pro- 
phet, preaching a regeneration of the tribes, and a re- 
newal of the contest for the possession of the lands north- 
west of the Ohio. All past treaties were to be disregarded 
as impositions and frauds, and the advance of the pale- 
face permanently checked. The joy of the British agents 
knew no bounds. Disregarding all the dictates of con- 
science and even the welfare of the tribes themselves, 
they whispered in the ears of the Wyandots of Sandusky 
and began to furnish ammunition and rifles. As a result 
of this fatal policy the breach between the United States 
and the Indian confederates was measurably widened. 
The end was Tippecanoe, and the eternal enmity of the 
hunters and riflemen of southern Indiana and Kentucky 
who followed General Harrison on that day. One of the 
ghastly sights of that sanguinary struggle, was the 
scalping by the white men of the Indian slain, and the 
division of their scalps among the soldiers after they had 
been cut into strips. These bloody trophies were carried 
back to the settlements along the Ohio and Wabash to 
satisfy the hatred of all those who had lost women and 
children in the many savage forays of the past. 

With the death of Tecumseh at the battle of the 



A BRIEF RETROSPECT 5 

Thames and the termination of British influence in the 
west, the tribes soon surrendered up their ancient de- 
mesne, and most of them were removed beyond the Mis- 
sissippi. The most populous of all the tribes north of the 
Wabash were the roving Potawatomi, and their final ex- 
pulsion from the old hunting grounds occurred under the 
direction of Colonel Abel C. Pepper and General John 
Tipton, the latter a hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, and 
later appointed as Indian commissioner. At that time 
the remnants of the scattered bands from north of the 
Wabash amounted to only one thousand souls of all ages 
and sexes. The party under military escort passed eight 
or nine miles west of the city of Lafayette, probably over 
the level land east of the present site of Otterbein, 
Indiana. 

Thus vanished the red men. In their day, however, 
they had been the undoubted lords of the plain, following 
their long trails in single file over the great prairies, and 
camping with their dogs, women and children in the 
pleasant groves and along the many streams. They were 
savages, and have left no enduring temple or lofty fane 
behind them, but their names still cling to many streams, 
groves and towns, and a few facts gleaned from their his- 
tory cannot fail to be of interest to us, who inherit their 
ancient patrimony. 



CHAPTER II 

WHAT THE VIRGINIANS GAVE US 

— A topographical description of the country north of 
the Ohio at the close of the Revohitionnry War. 

In the early councils of the Republic the stalwart 
sons of Virginia exercised a preponderating influence. 
As men of broad national conceptions, who were unafraid 
to strike a decisive blow in the interests of freedom, they 
were unexcelled. Saratoga had already been won, but 
at the back door of the new-born states was a line of 
British posts in the valleys of the Wabash and Missis- 
sippi and at Detroit, that stood ready to pour forth a 
horde of naked savages on the frontier settlements of 
the west and bring murder and destruction to the aid of 
England's cause. In December, 1777, George Rogers 
Clark came from Kentucky. He laid before Patrick 
Henry, the governor of Virginia, a bold plan for the 
reduction of these posts and the removal of the red men- 
ace. Into his councils the governor called George Wythe, 
George Mason and Thomas Jefferson. An expedition 
was then and there set on foot that gave the nation its 
first federal domain for the erection of new republican 
states. With a lot of worthless paper money in his 
pocket, and about one hundred and seventy-five hunting 
shirt men from Virginia and Kentucky, Clark marched 



WHAT THE VIRGINIANS GAVE US 7 

across the prairies of southern Illinois, and captured 
Kaskaskia. Later he took Vincennes. Thus by the cool 
enterprise and daring of this brave man, he laid the 
foundation for the subsequent negotiations of 1783, that 
gave the northwest territory to the United States of 
America. 

The country thus conquered covered more than two 
hundred and forty-four thousand square miles of the 
earth's surface, and comprised what are now the states 
of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. With- 
in its confines were boundless plains and prairies filled 
with grass ; immense forests of oak, hickory, walnut, pine, 
beech and fir; enormous hidden treasures of coal, iron and 
copper. Add to all these natural resources, a fertile soil, 
a temperate climate, and unlimited facilities for commerce 
and trade, and no field was ever presented to the hand 
and genius of man, better adapted to form the homes and 
habitations of a free and enterprising people. This was 
known and appreciated by the noble minds of Washing- 
ton and Jefferson, even at that day, and they above all 
other men of their times, saw most clearly the great 
vision of the future. 

At the close of the revolution, however, only a few 
scattered posts, separated by hundreds of miles, were 
to be found. Detroit, Michillimacinac, Vincennes, Kas- 
kaskia and a few minor trading points, told the whole 
tale. Kentucky could boast of a few thousands, main- 
taining themselves by dauntless courage and nerves of 
steel against British and Indians, but all north of the 
Ohio was practically an unbroken wilderness, inhabited 



8 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

by the fiercest bands of savages then in existence, with 
the possible exception of the Iroquois, 

Over this territory, and to gain control of these 
tribes, England and France had waged a long and bitter 
conflict, and the gage of battle had been the monopoly of 
the fur trade. The welfare of the savages was regarded 
but little; they were the pawns in the game. The great 
end to be acquired was the disposal of their rich peltries. 
No country was more easily accessible to the early voy- 
ageurs and French fur traders. It was bounded on the 
north and northeast by the chain of the Great Lakes, on 
the south by the Ohio, and on the west by the Mississippi. 
The heads of the rivers and streams that flowed into these 
great water-courses and lakes were connected by short 
portages, so that the Indian trapper or hunter could carry 
his canoe for a few miles and pass from the waters that 
led to Lake Michigan or Lake Erie, into the streams that 
fed the Mississippi or the Ohio. The headwaters of the 
Muskingum and its tributaries interlocked with those of 
the Cuyahoga; the headwaters of the Scioto with those 
of the Sandusky; the headwaters of the Great Miami 
with those of the Wabash and the St. Marys. In northern 
Indiana another remarkable system of portages ap- 
peared. The canoes of the traders were carried some 
eight or ten miles from the little Wabash to the Maumee, 
placing the command of the whole Wabash country in the 
hands of the Detroit merchants. The sources of the Tip- 
pecanoe were connected by portages with the waters of 
the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, and a like connection 
existed between the waters of the Tippecanoe and the 



WHAT THE VIRGINIANS GAVE US 9 

waters of the Kankakee. These portages were, as Gen- 
eral Harrison observes, "much used by the Indians and 
sometimes by traders." LaSalle passed from Lake Michi- 
gan to the waters of the St. Joseph, thence up that river 
to a portage of three miles in what is now St. Joseph 
county, Indiana, thence by said portage to the headwaters 
of the Kankakee, and down that river to the Illinois. At 
the post of Chicago the traders crossed from Lake Mich- 
igan by a very short portage into the headwaters of the 
Illinois, and General Harrison says that in the spring, 
the boats with their loading "passed freely from one to 
the other." In Michigan the heads of the streams that 
flowed into Lake Huron interlocked with the heads of 
those that went down to Lake Michigan. In Wisconsin, 
the voyageurs passed from Green bay up the Fox river to 
Lake Winnebago, thence by the Fox again to the portage 
between the Fox and Wisconsin, thence down the Wis- 
consin river to the Mississippi. Through this important 
channel of trade passed nine-tenths of the goods that sup- 
plied the Indians above the Illinois river and those in 
upper Louisiana. 

This great network of lakes, rivers and portages 
was in turn connected by the waterways of the Ottawa 
and the St. Lawrence, with the great head and center of 
all the fur trade of the western world, the city of 
Montreal. 

The only practicable means of communication was 
by the canoe. Most of the territory of the northwest, 
being, as General Harrison observes, "remarkably flat, 
the roads were necessarily bad in winter, and in the sum- 



10 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

mer the immense prairies to the west and north of this, 
produced such a multitude of flies as to render it impos- 
sible to make use of pack horses." Bogs, marshes and 
sloughs in endless number added to the diffculties of 
travel. Hence it was, that the power that commanded 
the lakes and water courses of the northwest, commanded 
at the same time all the fur trade and the Indian tribes 
in the interior. France forever lost this control to Great 
Britain at the peace of 1763, closing the French and In- 
dian war, and at the close of the revolution it passed to 
us by the definitive treaty of 1783. 

The importance of the posts of Detroit and Michilli- 
macinac, forming the chief connecting links between the 
northwest and the city of Montreal, now fully appears. 
First in importance was Detroit. It commanded all the 
valuable beaver country of northern Ohio and Indiana, 
southern Michigan, and of the rivers entering Lakes Erie 
and Huron. The trade coming from the Cuyahoga, the 
Sandusky, the tributaries of the Miami and Scioto, the 
Wabash and the Maumee, all centered here. The French 
traders, and after them the British, did a vast and flour- 
ishing business with the savages, trading them brandy, 
guns, ammunition, blankets, vermilion and worthless 
trinkets for furs of the highest value. The significance 
of the old trading posts at Miamitown (Fort Wayne), 
Petit Piconne (Tippecanoe), Ouiatenon, and Vincennes, 
as feeders for this Detroit market by way of the Wabash 
and Maumee valleys, is also made plain. A glimpse of the 
activities at Miamitown (Fort Wayne), in the winter of 
1789-1790, while it was still under the domination of the 



WHAT THE VIRGINIANS GAVE US 11 

British, shows the Miamis, Shawnees and Potawatomi 
coming in with otter, beaver, bear skins and other peltry, 
the presence of a lot of unscrupulous, cheating French 
traders, who were generally drunk when assembled to- 
gether, and who took every advantage of each other, and 
of the destitute savages with whom they were trading. 
At that time the French half-breeds (and traders) of the 
names of Jean Cannehous, Jacque Dumay, Jean Coustan 
and others were trading with the Indians at Petit 
Piconne, or Tippecanoe, and all this trade was routed 
through by way of the Wabash, the portage at Miami- 
town, and the Maumee, to Detroit. The traders at 
Ouiatenon, who undoubtedly enjoyed the advantage of 
the Beaver lake trade in northwestern Indiana, by way 
of the Potawatomi trail from the Wabash to Lake Mich- 
igan, were also in direct communication with the mer- 
chants of Detroit, and depended upon them. It is inter- 
esting to observe in passing, that the rendezvous of the 
French traders at the Petit Piconne (termed by General 
Charles Scott, as Keth-tip-e-ca-nunk), was broken up by 
a detachment of Kentucky mounted volunteers under 
General James Wilkinson, in the summer of 1791, and 
utterly destroyed. One who accompanied the expedition 
stated that there were then one hundred and twenty 
houses at this place, eighty of which were shingled ; that 
the best houses belonged to French traders ; and that the 
gardens and improvements around the place were de- 
lightful ; that there was a tavern located there, with cel- 
lars, a bar, and public and private rooms. Thus far had 
the fur trade advanced in the old days. 



CHAPTER III 

THE BEAVER TRADE 

— A description of the wealth in furs of this section at 
the close of the Revolutionary War and the reasons of 
the struggle for its control. 

Perhaps no country ever held forth greater allure- 
ment to savage huntsmen and French voyageurs than the 
territory acquired by Clark's conquest. Its rivers and 
lakes teemed with edible fish; its great forests abounded 
with deer, elk, bears and raccoons; its vast plains and 
prairies were filled with herds of buffalo that existed 
up almost to the close of the eighteenth century; every 
swamp and morass was filled with countless thousands of 
geese, ducks, swan and cranes, and rodents like the beaver 
and other animals furnished the red man with the warm- 
est of raiment in the coldest winter. 

To give some idea of the vast wealth of this domain 
in fur bearing animals alone, it may be taken into ac- 
count that in the year 1818 the American Fur Company, 
under the control of John Jacob Astor, with headquarters 
at Mackinaw, had in its employ about four hundred 
clerks and traders, together with about two thousand 
French voyageurs, who roamed all the rivers and lakes 
of the Indian country from the British dominions on the 
north, to as far west as the Missouri river. Astor had 
established a great fur business in direct competition with 
the British Northwest Company and commanded atten- 

12 



THE BEAVER TRADE 13 

tion in both London and China. The "outfits" of this 
company had trading posts on the Illinois, and all its 
tributaries; on the Muskegon, Grand, Kalamazoo and 
other rivers in Michigan; on the line of the old Pota- 
watomi trail from the Wabash country to post Chicago, 
and in the neighborhood of the Beaver lake region in 
northern Indiana, and at many other points. The fur 
handled by them consisted of the marten (sable), mink, 
musk-rat, raccoon, lynx, wildcat, fox, wolverine, badger, 
otter, beaver, bears and deer, of which the most valuable 
were those of the silver-gray fox and the marten. The 
value of these furs mounted into the hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars and they were originally all consigned to 
New York. For these interesting observations history 
lovers are indebted to the autobiography of the late Gur- 
don S. Hubbard of Chicago, who was, in his youth, in the 
employ of Astor, and who later in his lifetime conducted 
a trading post at Bunkum, now Iroquois, in Iroquois 
County, Illinois. It has been estimated that in the days 
of England's control of Canada and of all the northwest 
territory, that more than half in value of all the furs 
exported "came from countries within the new boundaries 
of the United States," that is, from the district north and 
west of the Ohio river. 

Of all the fur-bearers, the most interesting were the 
beavers. How much these industrious gnawers had to do 
with the French and Indian wars and the rivalry be- 
tween England and France for the control of their do- 
main north of the Ohio, is not generally appreciated. An 
animal that could be instrumental in part, in bringing 



14 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

about an armed conflict between the two greatest powers 
of that day, should not be entirely eliminated from 
history. 

At the time of Braddock's defeat, Colonel James 
Smith, then a boy, was captured by what seems to have 
been a party of the Caughnawaga Indians, some of whom 
lived along the rivers and streams in northern Ohio. He 
lived among the savages for some years and was adopted 
into one of their families. Later in life, he left a written 
account of many of his experiences, and among other 
things he tells us some interesting things concerning the 
beavers. "Beavers," says Caleb Atwater, an Ohio his- 
torian, "were once here in large numbers on the high 
lands at the heads of the rivers, but with those who 
caught them, they have long since disappeared from 
among us." Before the Revolution, and for some years 
afterward, they were caught by the Indians in great num- 
bers. Smith had a valuable friend among the Indians by 
the name of Tecaughretanego. He was quite a philoso- 
pher in his way, but he was rather inclined to believe, like 
most of his fellows, that geese turned to beavers and 
snakes to raccoons. He told Smith of a certain pond 
where he knew all the beavers were frequently killed 
during a hunting season, but they were just as thick 
again on the following winter. There was seemingly no 
water communication with this pond, and beavers did not 
travel by land. Therefore it must be that the geese that 
alighted here in great numbers during the fall, turned to 
beavers, and for proof of this assertion the Indian called 
Smith's attention to their palmated hind feet. The boy 



THE BEAVER TRADE 15 



suggested that there might be subterranean passages 
leading to this pond, whereby the beavers could gain 
access to it, but Tecaughretanego was not entirely con- 
vinced. 

In conversation with his Indian friend Smith hap- 
pened to say that beavers caught fish. The Indian laughed 
at him, and told him that beavers ate flesh of no kind, 
but lived on the bark of trees, roots, and other growing 
things. "I asked him," said Smith, "if the beaver was 
an amphibious animal, or if it could live under water? 
He said that the beaver was a kind of subterraneous wa- 
ter animal, that lives in or near the water, but they were 
no more amphibious than the ducks and geese were — 
which was constantly proven to be the case, as all the 
beavers that are caught in steel traps are drowned, pro- 
vided the trap be heavy enough to keep them under water. 
As the beaver does not eat fish, I inquired of Tecaughre- 
tanego why the beavers made such large dams? He said 
they were of use to them in various respects, both for 
their safety and food. For their safety, as by raising 
the water over the mouths of their holes, or subterran- 
eous lodging places, they could not be easily found; and 
as the beaver feeds chiefly on the barks of trees, by rais- 
ing the water over the banks, they can cut down saplings 
for bark to feed upon, without going out much upon the 
land ; and when they are obliged to go out upon land for 
this food they frequently are caught by the wolves. As 
the beaver can run upon land but little faster than a 
water tortoise, and is no fighting animal, if they are any 



16 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

distance from the water they become an easy prey to their 
enemies." 

The Indians caught great numbers of beavers by hunt- 
ing and trapping. In the winter time when they found 
the beavers in their houses, they first broke up all the 
thin ice around about, and then by breaking into the 
houses, drove the beavers into the water. Being soon 
forced to come to the surface to take the air, the Indians 
commonly reached in and caught them by the hind legs, 
dragged them out on the ice and tomahawked them. Not 
only were the furs and skins utilized, but the flesh as well. 
Smith describes the meat as being a "delicious fare." In 
the days before the savages were corrupted by the French 
and English traders, they possessed a wonderful skill in 
dressing the skins of the buffalo, the bear and the beaver. 
Beaver and raccoon skin blankets were made "pliant, 
warm and durable." Says Heckewelder, the Moravian 
missionary, "They sew together as many of these skins 
as are necessary, carefully setting the hair or fur all the 
same way, so that the blanket or covering be smooth, and 
the rain do not penetrate, but run off." 

In the later days, however, the beaver proved to be 
more of a curse than a blessing. The Indian then wore 
the European blanket, and bartered his valuable furs 
away for whiskey and brandy. The riotous scenes of 
drunkenness, debauchery and murder became unspeak- 
able. To Detroit the Indians swarmed from the shores 
of Erie and all the rivers in the interior. Hunting for 
weeks and months and enduring privation, suffering and 
toil, they came in at last with their women and children 



THE BEAVER TRADE 17 

to buy rifles, ammunition and clothing. Here mingled the 
Miami, the Potawatomi, the Ottawa and the Wyandot; a 
motley gathering of all the tribes. In the end the result 
was always the same, and always pitiful. The traders 
came with the lure of fire water, and when they departed 
the Indians were left drunken and destitute and often 
with death, disease and wounds in their midst. 

Smith gives a vivid description of one of their orgies 
at Detroit as follows : "At length a trader came to town 
(the Indian camp) with French brandy. We purchased 
a keg of it, and held a council about who was to get drunk, 
and who was to keep sober. I was invited to get drunk, 
but I refused the proposal. Then they told me I must 
be one of those who were to take care of the drunken 
people. I did not like this, but of the two evils I chose 
that which I thought was the least, and fell in with those 
who were to conceal the arms, and keep every dangerous 
weapon we could out of their way, and endeavor, if pos- 
sible, to keep the drinking club from killing each other, 
which was a very hard task. Several times we hazarded 
our lives, and got ourselves hurt, in preventing them from 
slaying each other. Before they had finished the keg, 
near one-third of the town was introduced to this drink- 
ing club; they could not pay their part, as they had 
already disposed of all their skins; but they made no 
odds, all were welcome to drink." 

"When they were done with the keg, they applied to 
the traders, and procured a kettle full of brandy at a 
time, which they divided out with a large wooden spoon — 
and so they went on and on and never quit whilst they 



18 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

had a single beaver skin. When the trader had got all 
our beaver, he moved off to the Ottawa town, about a mile 
above the Wyandot town. 

"When the brandy was gone, and the drinking club 
sober, they appeared much dejected. Some of them were 
crippled, others badly wounded. A number of the fine 
new shirts were torn, and several blankets burned. A 
number of squaws were also in this club, and neglected 
their corn planting." 

"We could now hear the effects of the brandy in the 
Ottawa town. They were singing and yelling in the most 
hideous manner, both night and day; but their frolic 
ended worse than ours; five Ottawas were killed, and a 
great many wounded." 

The marshes, lakes, rivers and small streams of 
northern Ohio and Indiana, and of the whole of Mich- 
igan and Wisconsin, abounded with the homes and habi- 
tatiors of the beavers. Behind them, as a memorial of 
their old days, they have left the names of creeks, towns, 
townships and even counties. The beaver lake region 
of northern Indiana has a Beaver "lake," a Beaver "town- 
ship," a Beaver "creek," a Beaver "city," and a Beaver- 
ville to its credit. The history of Vigo and Parke coun- 
ties, Indiana, by Beckwith, Chapter Twenty, at page 208, 
recites that beavers existed along all the small lakes and 
lesser river courses in northern Indiana. They were 
plentiful in Dekalb, Marshall, Elkhart, Cass, White and 
Steuben. It is well known that their dams existed in 
large numbers in Newton and Jasper, and in practically 
all the Indiana counties north of the Wabash river. 



THE BEAVER TRADE 19 

The above regions, with their wealth of peltries, 
England meant to hold as long as possible against the 
American advance, and she succeeded in doing so for 
twelve long years after the Revolution had closed. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 

— The buffalo as the main food supply of the Indians. 

To describe all the wonders in the interior of the 
northwest would be a serious, if not an impossible task. 
The Grand Prairie, however, stands alone. It was one 
of the marvels of creation, resembling the ocean as 
nothing else did, making men who saw, never forget. 

On Sunday, the third day of November, 1811, Gen- 
eral Harrison's army, with scouts in front, and wagons 
lumbering along between the flanks, crossed the Big 
Vermilion river, in Vermilion County, Indiana, traversed 
Sand Prairie and the woods to the north of it, and in the 
afternoon of the same day caught their first glimpse of 
the Grand Prairie, in Warren County, then wet with the 
cold November rains. That night they camped in Round 
Grove, near the present town of Sloan, marched eighteen 
miles across the prairie the next day, and camped on the 
east bank of Pine creek, just north of the old site of 
Brier's Mills. To the most of them, the sight must have 
been both novel and grand; if they could have known 
then that the vast undulating plain before them stretched 
westward in unbroken grandeur, a distance of two hun- 

20 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 21 



dred and fifty miles to the Mississippi river at Quincy; 
that these vast possessions in a few short years would 
pass from the control of the savage tribes that roamed 
over them, and would become the future great granaries 
of the world, producing enough cereals to feed an empire, 
what must have been their thoughts? 

The magnitude of this great plain, now teeming 
with thousands of homes and farms, is seldom realized. 
Draw a straight line west from old Fort Vincennes to 
the Mississippi, and practically all north of it, to the Wis- 
consin line, is the Grand Prairie. "Westward of the Wa- 
bash, except occasional tracts of timbered lands in north- 
era Indiana and fringes of forest growth along the inter- 
vening water courses, the prairies stretch westward con- 
tinuously across Indiana, and the whole of Illinois to the 
Mississippi. Taking the line of the Wabash railway, 
which crosses Illinois in its greatest breadth, and begin- 
ning in Indiana, where the railway leaves the timber, 
west of the Wabash near Marshfield (in Warren County) , 
the prairie extends to Quincy, a distance of more than two 
hundred and fifty miles, and its continuity the entire 
way is only broken by four strips of timber along four 
streams running at right angles with the route of the 
railway, namely, the timber on the Vermilion river be- 
tween Danville and the Indiana state line ; the Sangamon, 
seventy miles west of Danville, near Decatur ; the Sanga- 
mon again a few miles east of Springfield, and the Illinois 
river at Meredosia, and all the timber at the crossing of 
these several streams, if put together, would not aggre- 
gate fifteen miles, against the two hundred and fifty miles 



22 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of prairie. Taking a north and south direction and paral- 
lel with the drainage of the rivers, one could start near 
Ashley, on the Illinois Central railway, in Washington 
county, and going northward, nearly on an air line, 
keeping on the divide between Kaskaskia and Little Wa- 
bash, the Sangamon and the Vermilion, the Iroquois and 
the Vermilion of the Illinois, crossing the latter stream 
between the mouths of the Fox and DuPage, and travel 
through to the state of Wisconsin, a distance of nearly 
three hundred miles, without encountering five miles of 
timber during the whole journey." 

All that portion of Indiana lying north and west of 
the Wabash, is essentially a part of the Grand Prairie. 
"Of the twenty-seven counties in Indiana, lying wholly 
or partially west and north of the Wabash, twelve are 
prairie, seven are mixed prairies, barrens and timber, 
the barrens and prairie predominating. In five, the 
barrens, with the prairies, are nearly equal to the timber, 
while only three of the counties can be characterized as 
heavily timbered. And wherever timber does occur in 
these twenty-seven counties, it is found in localities favor- 
able to its protection against the ravages of fire, by the 
proximity of intervening lakes, marshes or water- 
courses." On the Indiana side, the most pronounced of 
the tracts of prairie occur in western Warren, Benton, 
southern and central Newton, southern Jasper, and west- 
ern White and Tippecanoe. Benton was originally cov- 
ered with a great pampas of blue-stem, high as a horse's 
head, interspersed here and there with swamps of wil- 
lows and bull grass, while only narrow fringes of timber 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 23 

along the creeks, and some five or six groves of timber 
and woodland, widely scattered, served as land marks to 
the early traveler. 

Those who early observed and explored the grassy 
savannas of Indiana and Illinois, always maintained that 
they were kept denuded of trees and forests by the action 
of the great prairie fires. Among those who have sup- 
ported this theory are the Hon. James Hall, author of 
"The West," published in Cincinnati in 1848; the Hon. 
John Reynolds, former governor of the state of Illinois, 
and the Hon. John D. Caton, a late judge of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois. Caton's observations on this subject 
are so interesting and ingenious that we cannot refrain 
from making the following quotation : 

"The cause of the absence of trees on the upland 
prairies is the problem most important to the agricultural 
interests of our state, and it is the inquiry which alone I 
propose to consider, but cannot resist the remark that 
wherever we do find timber throughout the broad field of 
prairie, it is always in or near the humid portions of it, 
as along the margins of streams, or upon or near the 
springy uplands. Many most luxurious growths are found 
in the highest portions of the uplands, but always in the 
neighborhood of water. For a remarkable example, I 
may refer to the great chain of groves extending from and 
including the Au Sable grove on the east and Holderman's 
grove on the west, in Kendall county, occupying the high 
divide between the waters of the Illinois and the Fox 
rivers. In and around all the groves flowing springs 
abound, and some of them are separated by marshes, to 



24 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the borders of which the great trees approach, as if the 
forests were ready to seize upon each yard of ground as 
soon as it is elevated above the swamps. Indeed, all our 
groves seem to be located where the water is so disposed 
as to protect them, to a greater or less extent, from the 
prairie fire, although not so situated as to irrigate them. 
If the head waters of the streams on the prairies are most 
frequently without timber, as soon as they have attained 
sufficient volume to impede the progress of fires, with 
very few exceptions, we find forests on their borders, 
becoming broader and more vigorous as the magnitude of 
the streams increase. It is manifest that the lands locat- 
ed on the borders of streams which the fire cannot pass, 
are only exposed to one-half the fires to which they would 
be exposed, but for such protection. This tends to show, 
at least, that if but one-half the fires that have occurred 
had been kindled, the arboraceous growth could have 
withstood their destructive influences, and the whole sur- 
face of what is now prairie would be forest. Another 
confirmatory fact, patent to all observers, is, that the pre- 
vailing winds upon the prairies, especially in the autumn, 
are from the west, and these give direction to the fires. 
Consequently, the lands on the westerly sides of the 
streams are the most exposed to the fires, and, as might 
be expected, we find much the most timber on the east- 
erly sides of the streams." 

Local observation in Benton County, Indiana, which 
is purely prairie throughout, would seem to confirm the 
judge's view. Parish grove, on the old Chicago road, 
was filled with springs, and a rather large spring on the 




- a- 






(^ 



K 



c; 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 25 

west side of the grove, supplied water for the horses of 
the emigrants and travelers who took this route to the 
northwest in the early 40's. Besides this, the grove was 
situated on rather high uplands, where the growth of 
grass would be much shorter than on the adjoining plain. 
It is probable that this spring on the west side, and the 
springy nature of the highlands back of it, kept the 
ground moist and the vegetation green, and these facts, 
coupled with the fact that the grass as it approached the 
uplands, would grow shorter, probably retarded and 
checked the prairie fires from the south-west, and gave 
rise to the wonderfully diversified and luxuriant growth 
of trees that was the wonder of the early settler. Sugar 
grove, seven miles to the northwest of Parish grove, and 
a stopping place on the old Chicago road, lay mostly 
within the point or headland caused by the juncture 
of Sugar Creek from the northeast, and Mud 
Creek from the southeast. Scarcely a tree is on the 
southwestern bank of Mud creek, but where it widens on 
the south side of the grove, it protected the growth of the 
forest on the northern side. Turkey Foot grove, east and 
south of Earl Park, formerly had a lake and depression 
both on the south and west sides of it. Hickory Grove, 
just west of Fowler, in the early days, had a lake or 
pond on the south and west. The timber that skirted 
the banks of Pine creek, was heaviest on the eastern side. 
The headwaters of Sugar, Pine and Mud creeks, being 
small and narrow, were entirely devoid of trees on their 
banks, but as they flowed on and acquired strength and 
volume, a skirt of forest appeared. 



26 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

The Grand Prairie, the home of the ancient Illinois 
tribe, the Sacs and Foxes, the Kickapoos, and the prairie 
Potawatomi, was also the home of the buffalo, or wild 
cow of America. No story either of the northwest or its 
Indian tribes would be complete without mention of the 
bison. Think of the sight that Brigadier General Harmar 
saw on the early prairies of Illinois, when marching from 
Vincennes to Kaskaskia, in November 1787! With him 
the Miami chief, Pachan (Pecan) and a comrade, killing 
wild game for the soldiers; before him stretching the 
vastness of the prairie, "like the ocean, as far as the eye 
can see, the view terminated by the horizon;" here and 
there the herds of deer and buffalo far in the distance. 

For centuries before the advent of the white 
man the buffalo herds roamed the plain. The savage, with 
no weapon in his hands, save rudely chipped pieces of 
stone, was unable to reduce their numbers. With the 
coming of firearms and the rifle the buffalo passed rapid- 
ly away. 

In the seventeenth and the early part of the eight- 
eenth centuries the buffalo ranged as far east as western 
New York and Pennsylvania, and as far south as Vir- 
ginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. Father Marquette, in 
his explorations, declared that the prairies along the Illi- 
nois river were "covered with buffalos." Father Henne- 
pin, in writing of northern Illinois, between Chicago and 
the Illinois river, asserted that "There must be an in- 
numerable quantity of wild bulls in this country, since 
the earth is covered with their horns. * * * They 
follow one another, so that you may see a drove of them 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 27 

for about a leagne together. Their ways are beaten, as 
are our great roads, and no herb grows therein." 

Of the presence of large numbers of buffalo, that 
resorted to the salty licks of Kentucky, we have frequent 
mention by both Humphrey Marshall and Mann Butler, 
the early historians of that state. In the year 1755, 
Colonel James Smith mentions the killing of several buf- 
falo by the Indians at a lick in Ohio, somewhere between 
the Muskingum, the Ohio and the Scioto. At this lick the 
Indians made about a half bushel of salt in their brass 
kettles. He asserts that about this lick there were clear, 
open woods, and that there were great roads leading to 
the same, made by the buffalo, that appeared like wagon 
roads. The wild cattle had evidently been attracted 
thither by the mineral salts in the water. In the early 
morning of June 13, 1765, George Croghan, an Indian 
agent sent out by William Johnson, of New York, to re- 
port to the English government conditions in the west, 
coming into view of one of the fine large meadows border- 
ing on the western banks of the Wabash, saw in the dis- 
tance herds of buffalo eating the grass, and describes the 
land as filled with buffalo, deer and bears in "great 
plenty." On the 18th and 19th of the same month, he 
traveled through what he terms as a "prodigious large 
meadow, called the Pyankeshaw's Hunting Ground," and 
describes it as well watered and full of buffalo, deer, 
bears, and all kinds of wild game. He was still in the 
lower Wabash region. On the 20th and 21st of June he 
was traveling north along the Wabash in the vicinity of 
the Vermilion river in Vermilion county, and states that 



28 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

game existed plentifully, and that one could kill in a half 
hour as much as was needed. He spoke, evidently, of the 
large variety of game before mentioned. The v^^hole of 
the prairie of Illinois, filled v^ith an abundant growth of 
the richest grasses, and all the savannas north of the 
Wabash in Indiana, that really constituted an extension 
of the Grand Prairie, were particularly suited to the 
range of the wild herds, and were the last grounds desert- 
ed by them previous to their withdrawal west, and across 
the Mississippi. 

The economical value of the herds of buffalo to the 
Indian tribes of the northwest may be gathered from the 
uses to which they were afterwards put by the tribes of 
the western plains. "The body of the buffalo yielded 
fresh meat, of which thousands of tons were consumed; 
dried meat, prepared in summer for winter use; pem- 
mican (also prepared in summer) of meat, fat and ber- 
ries ; tallow, made up into large balls or sacks, and kept 
in store; marrow, preserved in bladders; and tongues, 
dried and smoked, and eaten as a delicacy. The skin of 
the buffalo yielded a robe, dressed with the hair on, for 
clothing and bedding; a hide, dressed without the hair, 
which made a tepee cover, when a number were sewn 
together; boats, when sewn together in a green state, 
over a wooden frame work; shields, from the thickest 
portions, as rawhide; clothing of many kinds; bags for 
use in traveling ; coffins, or winding sheets for the dead, 
etc. Other portions utilized were sinews, which fur- 
nished fibre for ropes, thread, bowstrings, snow shoe 
webs, etc.; hair, which was sometimes made into belts 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 29 

and ornaments ; "buffalo chips," which formed a valuable 
and highly prized fuel ; bones, from which many articles 
of use and ornament were made ; horns, which were made 
into spoons, drinking vessels, etc." The Rev. John Heck- 
ewelder, in speaking of the skill of the Delawares of 
Ohio, in dressing and curing buffalo hides, in the latter 
part of the eighteenth century, says that they cured them 
so that they became quite soft and supple, and so that 
they would last for many years without wearing out. 

All at once, and near the beginning of the last de- 
cade of the eighteenth century, the buffalo herds east of 
the Mississippi, suddenly disappeared. George Wilson, in 
his history of Dubois County, Indiana, says that, "toward 
the close of the eighteenth century a very cold winter, 
continuing several months, froze all vegetable growth, 
starved the noble animals, and the herds never regained 
their loss." This statement is borne out by the testi- 
mony of the famous Potawatomi chieftain Shaubena, of 
northern Illinois, who says that the trade in buffalo robes 
east of the Mississippi ceased in about the year 1790; 
that when a youth he joined in the chase of buffalos on 
the prairies, but while he was still young, they all dis- 
appeared from the country. "A big snow, about five feet 
deep, fell, and froze so hard on the top that people walked 
on it, causing the buffalo to perish by starvation. Next 
spring a few buffalo, poor and haggard in appearance, 
were seen going westward, and as they approached the 
carcasses of dead ones, lying here and there on the 
prairies, they would stop, commence pawing and lowing, 
then start off again in a lope for the west." It is true 



30 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

that Brigadier-General Josiah Harmar, in marching from 
Vincennes to Kaskaskia, in 1787, gives a striking account 
of the early prairies, "like the ocean, as far as the eye can 
see, the view terminated by the horizon," and describes 
the country as excellent for grazing, and abounding with 
deer and buffalo. Pachan, or Pecan, a famous Miami 
chieftain from Miamitown, and an Indian comrade, sup- 
plied the military party with buffalo and deer meat on 
the march out, and on the return. Notwithstanding these 
facts, the story of the terrible winter and the deep snow 
as told by Shaubena seems authentic, and while scattered 
remnants of the great herds may still have existed for 
some time afterward, the great droves stretching "for 
above a league together," were seen no more. 

The great snowfall was the culminating tragedy. In 
order to secure whiskey and brandy the horse tribes of 
the prairies had slaughtered thousands, and bartered 
away their robes and hides. What distinguishes the 
savage from civilized man is, that the savage takes no 
heed of the morrow. To satisfy his present passions and 
appetites he will sacrifice every hope of the future. He 
no longer cures the skins and clothes his nakedness. He 
thinks no longer of husbanding his supply of meat and 
game. He robs the plain, and despoils every stream and 
river, and then becomes a drunken beggar in the fron- 
tier towns, crying for alms. The same thing that hap- 
pened on the plains of Illinois at the close of eighteenth, 
took place on the plains west of the Mississippi in the last 
half of the nineteenth century. The giant herds melted 
away before the remorseless killings of the still hunters 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 31 

and savages, who threw away a meat supply worth mil- 
lions of dollars in a mad chase for gain and plunder, and 
no one took a more prominent part in that killing than 
the Indian himself. 

"When the snow fall was unusually heavy," says 
William T. Hornaday, "and lay for a long time on the 
ground, the buffalos fast for days together, and sometimes 
even weeks. If a warm day came, and thawed the upper 
surface of the snow, sufficiently for succeeding cold to 
freeze it into a crust, the outlook for the bison began to 
be serious. A man can travel over a crust through which 
the hoofs of a ponderous bison cut like chisels and leave 
him floundering belly-deep. It was at such times that 
the Indians hunted him on snow-shoes, and drove their 
spears into his vitals as he wallowed helplessly in the 
drifts. Then the wolves grew fat upon the victims which 
they, also, slaughtered without effort." This is probably 
an accurate description of what took place east of the 
Mississippi river about the year 1730, and left the bones 
of the herds to bleach on the prairies. 

However the facts may be, it is certain that at the 
opening of the nineteenth century the buffalo were prac- 
tically extinguished in the territory of the northwest. A 
few scattered animals may have remained here and there 
upon the prairies, but the old herds, whose progenitors 
were seen by Croghan were forever gone. In the month 
of December, 1799, Judge Jacob Burnet was traveling 
overland on horseback from Cincinnati to Vincennes on 
professional business, and while at some point north and 
west of the falls of the Ohio, he and his companions sur- 



32 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

prised a small herd of eight or ten buffalos, that were 
seeking shelter behind the top of a fallen beech tree on 
the line of an old "trace," during a snow storm. This is 
one of the last accounts given of any buffalos in Indiana. 
On August 18th and August 27th, 1804, Governor Wil- 
liam Henry Harrison, as Indian agent for the United 
States government, bought a large tract of land in south- 
ern Indiana, between the Wabash and the Ohio rivers, 
from the Delaware and Piankeshaw tribes. The right 
to make this purchase was disputed by Captain William 
Wells, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, and by the Little 
Turtle, claiming to represent the Miamis, and it was 
claimed among other things, that the lands bought were 
frequented as a hunting ground by both the Miamis and 
Potawatomi, and that they went there to hunt buffalo. 
The truth of this statement was denied by Governor Har- 
rison, who said that not an animal of that kind "had been 
seen within that tract for several years." 

Traces of the old buffalo wallows are occasionally 
met with, even to this day. The great animals "rolled 
successively in the same hole, and each carried away a 
coat of mud," which, baking in the sun, served to protect 
them against the great swarm of flies, gnats and insects 
that infested the marshes and prairies of that early time. 
One of these wallows, in a perfect state of preservation, 
exists in the northwest quarter of section thirty, in town- 
ship twenty-five north, range six west, in Benton County, 
Indiana. It is several yards in diameter, hollowed out to 
a depth of four or five feet, and its periphery is almost 
an exact circle. It is situate on a rather high, springy 



THE PRAIRIE AND THE BUFFALO 33 

knoll, commanding a view of the surrounding plain for 
several miles. A great number of Indian arrow heads 
have been picked up in the immediate vicinity, showing 
that the Indians had previously resorted thither in search 
of game. 



CHAPTER V 

THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE 

— Chief line of communication with the tribes of the 
Early Northwest. The heart of the Miami Country. 

To give a detailed description of the many beautiful 
rivers, valleys and forests of the northwest at the open- 
ing of the last century, w^ould be difficult. It was, as 
before mentioned, a vast domain, well watered and fertile, 
and containing some of the best lands in the possession 
of the federal government. Two rivers, however, assume 
such historical importance, as to merit a more particular 
mention. Along their courses two Indian confederacies 
were organized under the spur of British influence, to 
oppose the advance of the infant republic of the United 
States. These two rivers were the Wabash and the 
Maumee, both leading to the principal center of the fur 
trade of the northwest, the town of Detroit. 

The valley of the Wabash, famed in song and story, 
and rich in Indian legend, is now filled with fields of corn 
and prosperous cities. At the close of the Revolution, 
the great stream swept through an unbroken wilderness 
of oak, maple and sycamore from its source to the old 
French settlement of Vincennes. Its bluffs, now adorned 
with the habitations of a peaceful people, then presented 

34 



THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE 35 

the wild and rugged beauty of pristine days ; its terraces, 
stretching back to the prairies of the north and west, 
were crowned with forests primaeval; while naked 
Miamis, Weas and Potawatomi in canoes of bark, rounded 
its graceful courses to the waters of the Ohio. 

For one who has ridden over the hills to the west and 
south of Purdue University, and viewed the gorgeous 
panorama of the Wea plain, or who has glimpsed in the 
perspective the wooded hills of Warren and Vermilion 
from the bluffs on the eastern side of the river, it is not 
hard to understand why the red man loved the Wabash. 
An observer who saw it in the early part of the last cen- 
tury pens this picture : "Its green banks were lined with 
the richest verdure. Wild flowers inter-mingled with the 
tall grass that nodded in the passing breeze. Nature 
seemed clothed in her bridal robe. Blossoms of the wild 
plum, hawthorn and red-bud, made the air redolent." 
Speaking of the summer, he says : "The wide, fertile bot- 
tom lands of the Wabash, in many places presented one 
continuous orchard of wild plum and crab-apple bushes, 
over-spread with arbors of the different varieties of the 
woods grape, wild hops and honeysuckle, fantastically 
wreathed together. One bush, or cluster of bushes, often 
presenting the crimson plum, the yellow crab-apple, the 
blue luscious grape, festoons of matured wild hops, min- 
gled with the red berries of the clambering sweet-briar, 
that bound them all lovingly together." 

Through all this wild and luxurious wilderness of 
vines, grasses and flowers flitted the honey bee, called by 
the Indians, "the white man's fly," storing his golden 



36 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

burden in the hollow trunks of the trees. While on the 
march from Vincennes, in the last days of September, 
1811, Captain Spier Spencer's Yellow Jackets found three 
bee trees in an hour and spent the evening in cutting them 
down. They were rewarded by a find of ten gallons of 
rich honey. 

The great river itself now passed between high pre- 
cipitous bluffs, crowned with oak, sugar, walnut and 
hickory, or swept out with long graceful curves into the 
lowlands and bottoms, receiving at frequent intervals the 
waters of clear, sparkling springs and brooks that leaped 
down from rocky gorges and hill-sides, or being joined 
by the currents of some creek or inlet that in its turn 
swept back through forest, glade and glen to sun-lit 
groves and meadows of blue grass. 

Everywhere the waters of the great stream were 
clear and pellucid. The plow-share of civilization had not 
as yet turned up the earth, nor the filth and sewerage of 
cities been discharged into the current. In places the 
gravelly bottom could be seen at a great depth and the 
forms of fishes of great size reposing at ease. "Schools 
of fishes — salmon, bass, red-horse and pike — swam close 
along the shore, catching at the bottoms of the red-bud 
and plum that floated on the surface of the water, which 
was so clear that myriads of the finny tribe could be seen 
darting hither and thither amidst the limpid element, 
turning up their silvery sides as they sped out into deeper 
water." 

The whole valley of the Wabash abounded with deer, 
and their tiny hoofs wrought foot paths through every 



THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE 37 

hollow and glen. The small prairies bordered with shady- 
groves, the patches of blue-grass, and the sweet waters 
of the springs, were great attractions. The banks of the 
Mississinewa, Wild Cat, Pine Creek, Vermilion, and other 
tributaries, were formerly noted hunting grounds. George 
Croghan, who described the Wabash as running through 
"one of the finest countries in the world," mentions the 
deer as existing in great numbers. On the march of 
General Harrison's men to Tippecanoe, the killing of deer 
was an every day occurrence, and at times the frightened 
animals passed directly in front of the line of march. 
Raccoons were also very plentiful. On a fur trading ex- 
pedition conducted by a French trader named La Foun- 
taine, from the old Miamitown (Fort Wayne), in the 
winter of 1789-90, he succeeded in picking up about eighty 
deer skins and about five hundred raccoon skins in less 
than thirty days. He descended the Wabash and "turned 
into the woods" toward the White River, there bartering 
with the Indians for their peltries. 

As to wild game, the whole valley was abundantly 
supplied. In the spring time, great numbers of wild 
ducks, geese and brant were found in all the ponds and 
marshes ; in the woody ground the wild turkey, the pheas- 
ant and the quail. At times, the sun was actually dark- 
ened by the flight of wild pigeons, while the prairie 
chicken was found in all the open tracts and grass lands. 

The bottom lands of this river, were noted for their 
fertility. The annual inundations always left a rich de- 
posit of silt. This silt produced excellent maize, potatoes, 
beans, pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers and melons. These, 



38 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

according to Heckewelder, were important items of the 
Indian food supply. 

To the Indian we are indebted for ash-cake, hoe- 
cake, succotash, samp, hominy and many other produc- 
tions made from the Indian maize. The Miamis of the 
Wabash, with a favorable climate and a superior soil, 
produced a famous corn with a finer skin and "a meal 
much whiter" than that raised by other tribes. How 
far the cultivation of this cereal had progressed is not 
now fully appreciated. In the expedition of General 
James Wilkinson against the Wabash Indians in 1791, he 
is said to have destroyed over two hundred acres of corn 
in the milk at Kenapacomaqua, or the Eel river towns, 
alone, and to have cut down a total of four hundred and 
thirty acres of corn in the whole campaign. In General 
Harmar's campaign against Miamitown in the year 1790, 
nearly twenty thousand bushels of corn in the ear were 
destroyed. On the next day after the battle of Tippe- 
canoe the dragoons of Harrison's army set fire to the 
Prophets Town, and burned it to the ground. Judge Isaac 
Naylor says that they found there large quantities of 
corn, beans and peas, and General John Tipton relates 
that the commissary loaded six wagons with corn and 
"Burnt what was estimated at two thousand bushel." 

Of the many other natural advantages of this great 
valley, much might be written. Wheat and tobacco, the 
latter of a fine grade, were growing at Vincennes in 
1765, when Croghan passed through there. Wild hemp 
was abundant in the lowlands. The delicious pecan flour- 
ished, and walnuts, hazelnuts and hickory nuts were 



THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE 39 

found in great plenty. The sugar maple existed every- 
where, and the Indians, who were the original sugar 
makers of the world, made large quantities of this tooth- 
some article. In addition to this the whole valley was 
filled with wild fruits and berries, such as blackberries, 
dewberries, raspberries, goose-berries, and the luscious 
wild strawberry, that grew everywhere in the open spaces 
and far out on the bordering prairies. 

This sketch of the Wabash and its wonderful pos- 
sibilities may not be more aptly closed, than by append- 
ing hereto the description of Thomas Hutchins, the first 
geographer of the United States. It appears in his 'Top- 
ographical Description," and mention is made of the con- 
nection of the Wabash by a portage with the waters of 
Lake Erie; the value of the fur trade at Ouiatenon and 
Vincennes, and many other points of vital interest. 

"The Wabash, is a beautiful river, with high and 
upright banks, less subject to overflow than any other 
river (the Ohio excepted) in this part of America. It 
discharges itself into the Ohio, one thousand twenty-two 
miles below Fort Pitt, in latitude thirty-seven degrees, 
forty-one minutes. At its mouth, it is two hundred and 
seventy yards wide; is navigable to Ouiatenon (four hun- 
dred twelve miles) in the spring, summer, and autumn 
with battoes and barges, drawing about three feet of 
water. From thence, on account of a rocky bottom, and 
shoal water, large canoes are chiefly employed, except 
when the river is swelled with rains, at which time, it may 
be ascended with boats, such as I have just described 
(197 miles further) to the Miami carrying place, which 



40 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

is nine miles from the Miami village (Author's note: 
Miamitown or Fort Wayne), and this is situated on a 
river of the same name (Author's note : The Maumee was 
formerly called "Miami of the Lake"), that runs into the 
southwest part of Lake Erie. The stream of the Wabash, 
is generally gentle to Fort Ouiatenon, and nowhere ob- 
structed with falls, but is by several rapids, both above 
and below that post, some of which are pretty consider- 
able. There is also a part of the river for about three 
miles, and thirty miles from the carrying place, where 
the channel is so narrow, that it is necessary to make 
use of setting poles instead of oars. The land on this 
river is remarkably fertile, and several parts of it are 
natural meadows, of great extent, covered with fine long 
grass. The timber is large, and in such variety, that 
almost all the different kinds growing upon the Ohio, 
and its branches (But with a greater proportion of black 
and white mulberry trees) , may be found. A silver mine 
has been discovered about 28 miles above Ouiatenon, on 
the northern side of the Wabash, and probably others 
may be found hereafter. The Wabash abounds with salt 
springs, and any quantity of salt may be made from them, 
in the manner now done at the Saline in the Illinois 
country. The hills are replenished with the best coal, and 
there is plenty of lime and freestone, blue, yellow and 
white clay, for glass works and pottery." 

"Two French settlements are established on the Wa- 
bash, called Post Vincent and Ouiatenon ; the first is 150 
miles, and the other 262 miles from its mouth. The for- 
mer is on the eastern side of the river, and consists of 




u 



cs 



THE WABASH AND THE MAUMEE 41 

sixty settlers and their families. They raise corn, wheat 
and tobacco of an extraordinary good quality, superior, it 
is said, to that produced in Virginia. They have a fine 
breed of horses (Brought originally by the Indians from 
the Spanish settlements on the western side of the Missis- 
sippi), and large flocks of swine and black cattle. The 
settlers deal with the natives for furs and deer skins, to 
the amount of about 5,000 pounds annually. Hemp of 
good texture grows spontaneously in the lowlands of the 
Wabash, as do grapes in the greatest abundance, having 
a black, thin skin, and of which the inhabitants in the 
autumn, make a sufficient quantity (for their own con- 
sumption) of well-tasted red wine. Hops, large and good, 
are found in many places, and the lands are particularly 
adapted to the culture of rice. All European fruits, 
apples, peaches, pears, cherries, currants, gooseberries, 
melons, etc., thrive well both here and in the country 
bordering on the river Ohio." 

"Ouiatenon (Author's note: Just below Lafayette), 
is a small stockaded fort on the western side of the Wa- 
bash, in which about a dozen families reside. The neigh- 
boring Indians are the Kickapoos, Musquitons, Pyanke- 
shaws, and a principal part of the Ouiatenons. The whole 
of these tribes consists, it is supposed, of about one thou- 
sand warriors. The fertility of soil, and the diversity of 
timber in this country, are the same as in the vicinity of 
Post Vincent. The annual amount of skins and furs 
obtained at Ouiatenon is about 8,000 pounds. By the 
river Wabash, the inhabitants of Detroit move to the 
southern parts of Ohio, and the Illinois country. Their 



CHAPTER VI 

THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 

— A description of the seven tribes of savages ivho op- 
posed the advance of settlement in the Northwest. Their 
location. Kekionga, the seat of Miami power. 

We have now to consider those Indian tribes and 
confederacies, which at the close of the Revolutionary 
war, inhabited the northwest territory. 

Chief among them were the Wyandots, Miamis, 
Shawnees, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas and Pota- 
watomi. These were the seven tribes known in after 
years as the "western confederacy," who fought so long 
and bitterly against the government of the United States, 
and who were at last conquered by the arms and genius 
of General Anthony Wayne in the year 1794. 

The Ottawas, Chippewas and Potawatomi formed a 
sort of loose confederacy known as the Three Fires, and 
Massas, a Chippewa chief, so referred to them at the 
Treaty of Greenville. 

The Miamis, the most powerful of the confederates, 
were subdivided into the Eel Rivers, the Weas, and the 
Piankeshaws. The Kickapoos, a small tribe which lived 
on the Sangamon, and the Vermilion of the Wabash, were 
associated generally with the Potawatomi, and were al- 
ways the allies of the English. The Winnebagoes of Wis- 
cousin were of the linguistic family of the Sioux; were 

44 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 45 



generally associated with the confederates against the 
Americans, and many of their distinguished warriors 
fought against General Harrison at Tippecanoe. The 
decadent tribes known in early times as the Illinois, did 
not play a conspicuous part in the history of the north- 
west. 

While the limits of the various tribes may not be fixed 
with precision, and the boundary lines were often con- 
fused, still there were well recognized portions of the 
northwest that were under the exclusive control of cer- 
tain nations, and these nations were extremely jealous 
of their rights, as shown by the anger and resentment 
of the Miamis at what they termed as the encroachment 
of the Potawatomi at the Treaty of Fort Wayne, in 1809. 

The Wyandots, for instance, were the incontestable 
owners of the country between the Cuyahoga and the 
Au Glaize, in the present state of Ohio, their dominion 
extending as far south as the divide between the waters 
of the Sandusky river and the Scioto, and embracing the 
Southern shore of Lake Erie from Maumee Bay, to the 
mouth of the Cuyahoga. Large numbers of them were 
also along the northern shores of Lake Erie, in Canada. 
Their territory at one time probably extended much far- 
ther south toward the Ohio, touching the lands of the 
Miamis on the west, but certainly embracing parts of the 
Muskingum country, to which they had invited the an- 
cient Delawares, respectfully addressed by them as 
"grandfathers." Intermingled with the Wyandots south 
and west of Lake Erie were scattered bands of Ottawas, 



46 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

but they were tenants of the soil by sufferance, and not 
as of right. 

The Miamis have been described by General William 
Henry Harrison as the most extensive landowners in the 
northwest. He stands on record as saying that: "Their 
territory embraced all of Ohio, west of the Scioto ; all of 
Indiana, and that part of Illinois, south of the Fox river 
and Wisconsin, on which frontier they were intermingled 
with the Kickapoos and some other small tribes." Har- 
rison may have been right as to the ancient and original 
bounds of this tribe, but Little Turtle, their most famous 
chieftain, said at the Treaty of Greenville, in 1795: "It 
is well known by all my brothers present, that my fore- 
father kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence, he 
extended his lines to the head- water of Scioto; from 
thence, to its mouth ; from thence, down the Ohio, to the 
mouth of the Wabash, and from thence to Chicago, on 
Lake Michigan." The truth is, that the ancient demesne 
of the Miamis was much curtailed by the irruption of 
three tribes from the north in about the year 1765, the 
Sacs and Foxes, the Kickapoos and the Potawatomi, who 
conquered the old remnants of the Illinois tribes in the 
buffalo prairies and divided the country among them- 
selves. 

Says Hiram Beckwith, in speaking of the Potawato- 
mi : "Always on friendly terms with the Kickapoos, with 
whom they lived in mixed villages, they joined the latter 
and the Sacs and Foxes in the exterminating war upon 
the Illinois tribes, and afterwards obtained their allot- 
ment of the despoiled domain." The Potawatomi ad- 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 47 

vancirxg by sheer force of numbers, rather than by con- 
quest, finally appropriated a large part of the lands in 
the present state of Indiana, north of the Wabash, com- 
mingling with the Kickapoos at the south and west, and 
advancing their camps as far down as Pine creek. The 
Miamis were loud in their remonstrances against this 
trespassing, and denounced the Potawatomi as squat- 
ters, "never having had any lands of their own, and being 
mere intruders upon the prior estate of others," but the 
Potawatomi were not dispossessed and were afterwards 
parties to all treaties with the United States government 
for the sale and disposal of said lands. The Miamis also 
lost a part of their lands on the lower west side of the 
Wabash to the Kickapoos. Pressing eastward from the 
neighborhood of Peoria, the Kickapoos established them- 
selves on the Vermilion, where they had a village on both 
sides of that river at its confluence with the main stream. 
They were, says Beckwith, "Greatly attached to the Ver- 
milion and its tributaries, and Governor Harrison found 
it a difficult task to reconcile them to ceding it away." 

To the last, however, the Miamis remained the un- 
disputed lords and masters of most of the territory 
watered by the two Miamis of the Ohio, and by the Wa- 
bash and its tributaries down to the Ohio. The great 
head and center of their power was at Kekionga (now 
Fort Wayne), always referred to by President Wash- 
ington as "the Miami Village." It was a pleasant situa- 
tion in the heart of the great northwest, at the junction 
where the swift flowing St. Joseph and the more gentle 
stream of the Saint Marys, formed the headwaters of the 



48 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Maumee. On the eastern side of the St. Joseph was the 
town of Pecan, a head chief of the Miami, and the same 
savage who had supplied deer and buffalo meat for Bri- 
gadier General Harmar on his mission to Kaskaskia in 
1787. Pecan was an uncle of the famous chief, Pes- 
hewah. or Jean Baptiste Richardville, who after the death 
of Little Turtle in 1812. became the head chief of the 
Miami tribe, and was reputed to be the richest Indian 
in North America. The southern end of this town was 
near the point of juncture of the St. Marys and St. 
Joseph, and the village extended north along what is now 
known as Lakeside, in the present city of Fort Wayne, a 
pleasant drive revealing at times the rippling waters of 
the river to the west. To the south of this village lay 
the Indian gardens, and east of the gardens the extensive 
corn fields and meadows. On the northern side of the 
town more corn fields were found, and north and west 
of it extended the forests. The banks of the Maumee 
just below the junction, and south of this old village, are 
quite high and steep, and along the northern side now 
runs the beautiful avenue known as Edgewater. Travel- 
ing down Edgewater to the eastward one comes to a great 
boulder with a brass tablet on it. You are at Harmar's 
Ford, and at the exact point where the regulars crosssed 
the river just after sunrise of October 22nd, 1790, to at- 
tack the Indians. Here it was that Major John Wyllys fell 
leading the charge. Along the southern bank of the Mau- 
mee the ground is elevated and crowning these elevations 
were the forests again. It was through these forests that 
Hardin's forces approached the fatal battle-field. 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 49 

On the western bank of the St. Joseph was a mixed 
village of French and Indians known as LeGris' Town, 
and it in turn was surrounded by more corn fields. LeGris 
was also an important chief of the Miamis, and named in 
Henry Hay's journal as a brother-in-law of the Little 
Turtle. He signed the treaty of Greenville under the 
Indian name of Na-goh-quan-gogh. Directly south of this 
village ran the St. Marys, and to the west of it was a 
small wooded creek known as Spy Run. 

To these villages in August, 1765, came George 
Croghan on his way to Detroit. He describes the carry- 
ing-place between the Wabash and the Maumee systems 
to be about nine miles in length, "but not above half that 
length in freshes." He reported navigation for bateaux 
and canoes between the carrying place and Ouiatenon as 
very difficult during the dry season of the year on account 
of many rapids and rifts ; but during the high-water time 
the journey could be easily made in three days. He says 
the distance by water was two hundred forty miles and 
by land about two hundred ten. Within a mile of Miami- 
town he was met by a delegation of the Miami chiefs and 
immediately after his entrance into the village the Brit- 
ish flag was raised. He describes the villages as con- 
sisting of about forty or fifty cabins, besides nine or ten 
French houses. He entertained no very high opinion of 
the French and describes them as refugees from Detroit, 
spiriting up the Indians against the English. He de- 
scribes the surrounding country as pleasant, well watered, 
and having a rich soil. 

Recently another account of these villages has been 



50 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

given to the world by the publication of the diary of one 
Henry Hay, who, as a representative of certain merchants 
and traders of Detroit, visited these villages in the winter 
of 1789-1790, while they were still under the influence of 
the British agents at Detroit, although the soil was with- 
in the jurisdiction of the United States government. It 
was then one of the most important trading places for the 
Indian tribes in the northwest, and in close proximity to 
the great council grounds of the northwestern Indian 
confederacy in the valley of the Maumee. Le Gris, was 
there, and Jean Baptiste Richardville, then a youth ; also 
the Little Turtle himself, about to become the most 
famous and wily strategist of his day and time. 

Let there be no mistaken glamour cast about this 
scene. Already the disintegration of the Indian power 
was setting in. The traders among them, both English 
and French, seem to have been a depraved, drunken 
crew, trying to get all they could "by foul play or other- 
wise," and traducing each other's goods by the circula- 
tion of evil reports. Hay says, "I cannot term it in a 
better manner than calling it a rascally scrambling 
trade." Winter came on and the leading chiefs and their 
followers went into the woods to kill game. They had 
nothing in reserve to live upon, and in a hard season their 
women and children would have suffered. The French 
residents here seem to have been a gay, rollicking set, 
playing flutes and fiddles, dancing and playing cards, and 
generally going home drunk from every social gathering. 
The few English among them were no better, and we have 
the edifying spectacle of one giving away his daughter to 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 51 

another over a bottle of rum. The mightiest chieftains, 
including Le Gris, did not scruple to beg for whiskey, and 
parties of warriors were arriving from the Ohio river 
and Kentucky, with the scalps of white men dangling at 
their belts. 

There was still a considerable activity at this place, 
however, in the fur trade, and the English thought it 
well worth holding. Raccoon, deer, bear, beaver, and 
otter skins were being brought in, although the season 
was not favorable during which Hay sojourned there on 
account of it being an open winter. Constant communica- 
tion was kept up with Detroit on the one hand and 
the Petit Piconne (Tippecanoe) and Ouiatenon on the 
other. La Fountaine, Antoine LaSalle, and other famous 
French traders of that day were doing a thriving busi- 
ness in the lower Indian country. 

That these Miami villages were also of great strate- 
gical value from the military standpoint, and that this 
fact was well known to President Washington, has al- 
ready been mentioned. The French early established 
themselves there, and later the English, and when the 
Americans after the Revolution took dominion over the 
northwest and found it necessary to conquer the tribes 
of the Wabash and their allies, one of the first moves of 
the United States government was to attack the villages 
at this place, break up the line of their communication 
with the British at Detroit, and overawe the Miamis by 
the establishment of a strong military post. 

To the last, the Miamis clung to their old carrying 
place. Wayne insisted at the peace with the Miamis 



52 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and their allies, at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, that a tract 
six miles square around the newly established post at 
Fort Wayne should be ceded to the United States, together 
with "one piece two miles square on the Wabash river, 
at the end of the portage from the Miami of the Lake 
(Maumee), and about eight miles westward from Fort 
Wayne." This proposal was stoutly resisted by the Little 
Turtle, who among other things said : "The next place you 
pointed to, was the Little River, and you said you wanted 
two miles square at that place. This is a request that our 
fathers, the French or British, never made of us; it was 
always ours. This carrying place has heretofore proved, 
in a great degree, the subsistence of your younger broth- 
ers. That place has brought to us in the course of one 
day, the amount of one hundred dollars. Let us both own 
this place and enjoy in common the advantage it affords." 
Despite this argument, however, Wayne prevailed, and 
the control of Kekionga and the portage passed to the 
Federal government; that ancient Kekionga described by 
Little Turtle as "the Miami village, that glorious gate, 
which your younger brothers had the happiness to own, 
and through which all the good words of our chiefs had 
to pass from the north to the south, and from the east to 
the west." 

Returning to the Potawatomi, it will be seen that 
this tribe, which originally came from the neighborhood 
of Green Bay, was probably from about the middle of the 
eighteenth century, in possession of most of the country 
from the Milwaukee river in Wisconsin, around the south 
shore of Lake Michigan, to Grand River, "extending 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 53 



southward over a large part of northern Illinois, east 
across Michigan to Lake Erie, and south in Indiana to the 
Wabash." The Sun, or Kee-sass, a Potawatomi of the 
Wabash, said at the treaty of Greenville, that his tribe 
was composed of three divisions ; that of the river Huron, 
in Michigan, that of the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, and 
the bands of the Wabash. In the year 1765, George Cro- 
ghan, Indian agent of the British government, found the 
Potawatomi in villages on the north side of the Wabash 
at Ouiatenon, with a Kickapoo village in close proximity, 
while the Weas had a village on the south side of the 
river. This would indicate that the Potawatomi had al- 
ready pushed the Miami tribe south of the Wabash at 
this place and had taken possession of the country. 

Far away to the north and on both shores of Lake 
Superior, dwelt the Chippewas or Ojibways, famed for 
their physical strength and prowess and living in their 
conical wigwams, with poles stuck in the ground in a 
circle and covered over with birch bark and grass mats. 
The Jesuit Fathers early found them in possession of the 
Sault Ste. Marie, and when General Wayne at the treaty 
of Greenville, reserved the post, of Michillimacinac, and 
certain lands on the main between Lake Michigan and 
Lake Huron, Mash-i-pinash-i-wish, one of the principal 
Chippewa chieftains, voluntarily made the United States 
a present of the Island De Bois Blanc, at the eastern en- 
trance of the straits of Mackinac, for their use and ac- 
commodation, and was highly complimented by the gen- 
eral for his generous gift. A reference to the maps of 
Thomas G. Bradford, of 1838, shows the whole upper 



54 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

peninsular of Michigan in the possession of the Chippe- 
was, as well as the whole southern and western shores 
of Lake Superior, and a large portion of northern Wis- 
consin. One of their principal sources of food supply was 
wild rice, and the presence of this cereal, together with 
the plentiful supply of fish, probably accounts for their 
numbers and strength. In the beginning of the eigh- 
teenth century, they expelled the Foxes from northern 
Wisconsin, and later drove the fierce fighting Sioux be- 
yond the Mississippi. They were the undisputed masters 
of a very extensive domain and held it with a strong and 
powerful hand. One of their chiefs proudly said to 
Wayne: "Your brothers' present, of the three fires, are 
gratified in seeing and hearing you; those who are at 
home will not experience that pleasure, until you come 
and live among us; you will then learn our title to that 
land." Though far removed from the theatre of the wars 
of the northwest, they, together with the Ottawas, early 
came under the British influence, and resisted the efforts 
of the United States to subdue the Miamis and their con- 
federate tribes, fighting with the allies against General 
Harmar at the Miami towns, against St. Clair on the head- 
waters of the Wabash and against Anthony Wayne at 
Fallen Timbers on the 20th of August, 1794. 

The rudest of all the tribes of the northwest were the 
Ottawas, those expert canoemen of the Great Lakes, 
known to the French as the "traders," because they car- 
ried on a large trade and commerce between the other 
tribes. They seem to have had their original home on 
Mantoulin Island, in Lake Huron, and on the north and 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 55 

south shores of the Georgian Bay. Driven by terror of 
the Iroquois to the region west of Lake Michigan, they 
later returned to the vicinity of L'Arbe Croche. near the 
lower end of Lake Michigan, and from thence spread out 
in all directions. Consulting Bradford's map of 1838 
again, the Ottawas are found in the whole northern end 
of the lower Michigan peninsula. Ottawa county, at the 
mouth of Grand river, would seem to indicate that at one 
time, their towns must have existed in that vicinity, and 
in fact their possessions are said to have extended as far 
down the eastern shore of Lake Michigan as the St. 
Joseph. To the south and east of these points "their vil- 
lages alternated with those of their old allies, the Hurons, 
now called Wyandots, along the shore of Lake Erie from 
Detroit to the vicinity of Beaver creek, in Pennsylvania." 
They were parties with the Wyandots and Delawares 
and other tribes to the treaty of Fort Harmar, Ohio, at 
the mouth of Muskingum, in 1789, whereby the Wyandots 
ceded large tracts of land in the southern part of that 
state to the United States government, and were granted 
in turn the possession and occupancy of certain lands to 
the south of Lake Erie. The Ottawa title to any land in 
southern Ohio, however, is exceedingly doubtful, and they 
were probably admitted as parties to the above treaty in 
deference to their acknowledged overlords, the Wyandots. 
Their long intercourse with the latter tribe, in the present 
state of Ohio, who were probably the most chivalrous, 
brave and intelligent of all the tribes, seems to have soft- 
ened their manners and rendered them less ferocious than 
formerly. Like the Chippewas, their warriors were of 



56 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fine physical mould, and Colonel William Stanley Hatch, 
an early historian of Ohio, in writing of the Shawnees, 
embraces the following reference to the Ottawas: "As 
I knew them, (i. e., the Shawnees), they were truly noble 
specimens of their race, universally of fine athletic forms, 
and light complexioned, none more so, and none appeared 
their equal, unless it was their tribal relatives, the Otta- 
was, who adjoined them. The warriors of these tribes 
were the finest looking Indians I ever saw, and were 
truly noble speciments of the human family." The lead- 
ing warriors and chieftains of their tribe, however, were 
great lovers of strong liquor, and Pontiac, the greatest 
of all the Ottawas, was assassinated shorty after a 
drunken carousal, and while he was singing the grand 
medicine songs of his race. 

But the wandering Ishmaelites of all the northwest 
tribes were the Shawnees. Cruel, crafty and treacherous, 
and allied always with the English, they took a leading 
part in all the ravages and depredations on the frontiers 
of Pennsylvania and Virginia during the revolution and 
led expedition after expedition against the infant settle- 
ments of Kentucky, from the period of the first pioneers 
in 1775, until Wayne's victory in 1794. These were the 
Indians who kept Boone in captivity, made Simon Kenton 
run the gauntlet, stole thousands of horses in Kentucky, 
and who for years attacked the flatboats and keel boats 
that floated down the Ohio, torturing their captives by 
burning at the stake. 

General William Henry Harrison, in speaking of the 
migrations of this tribe, says: "No fact, in relation to 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 57 

the Indian tribes, who have resided on the northwest 
frontier for a century past, is better known, than that 
the Shawnees came from Florida and Georgia about the 
middle of the eighteenth century. They passed through 
Kentucky (along the Cumberland river) on their way to 
the Ohio. But that their passage was rather a rapid one, 
is proved by these circumstances. Black Hoof, their late 
principal chief (With whom I had been acquainted since 
the treaty of Greenville), was born in Florida, before the 
removal of his tribe. He died at Wapocconata, in this 
state, only three or four years ago. As I do not know 
his age, at the time of his leaving Florida, nor at his 
death, I am not able to fix with precision the date of emi- 
gration. But it is well known that they were at the town 
which still bears their name on the Ohio (Shawneetown, 
111.), a few miles below the mouth of the Wabash, some 
time before the commencement of the Revolutionary war ; 
that they remained there some years before they removed 
to the Scioto, where they were found by Governor Dun- 
more, in the year 1774. That their removal from Florida 
was a matter of necessity, and their progress from thence, 
a flight, rather than a deliberate march, is evident from 
their appearance, when they presented themselves upon 
the Ohio, and claimed the protection of the Miamis. They 
are represented by the chiefs of the latter, as well as those 
of the Delawares, as supplicants for protection, not 
against the Iroquois, but against the Creeks and Semi- 
noles, or some other southern tribes, who had driven them 
from Florida, and they are said to have been literally sans 
pro vat et sans culottes." 



58 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Later writers have mentioned that while they orig- 
inally dwelt in the south, that one division of the tribe 
lived in South Carolina, while another and more numer- 
ous division lived along the Cumberland river, and had 
a large village near the present site of Nashville. The 
Cumberland river was known on the early maps preced- 
ing the Revolution as the Shawnee river, while the Ten- 
nessee was called the Cherokee river. This Cumberland 
division is said to have become engaged in war with both 
the Cherokees and Chickasaws, and to have fled to the 
north to receive the protection of the powerful nations of 
the Wabash. 

Notwithstanding the magnanimous conduct of the 
Miamis, however, they, together with the Wyandots of 
Ohio, always regarded the Shawnees with suspicion and 
as trouble makers. The great chief of the Miamis told 
Antoine Gamelin at Kekionga, in April, 1790, when 
Gamelin was sent by the government to pacify the Wa- 
bash Indians, that the Miamis had incurred a bad name 
on account of mischief done along the Ohio, but that this 
was the wo rk of th e Shawnees, who, he said, had "b, bad 
heart," and were the "perturbators of all the nations." 
To the articles of the treaty at Fort Harmar, in 1789, the 
following is appended: "That the Wyandots have laid 
claim to the lands that were granted to the Shawnees, 
(these lands were along the Miami, in Ohio) , at the treaty 
held at the Miami, and have declared, that as the Shaw- 
nees have been so restless, and caused so much trouble, 
both to them and to the United States, if they will not 
now be at peace, they will dispossess them, and take the 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 59 

/ 

country into their own hands ; for that country is theirs 
of right, and the Shawnees are only living upon it by their 
permission." 

From the recital of the above facts, it is evident 
that the Shawnees could never justly claim the owner- 
ship of any of the lands north of the Ohio. That, far 
from being the rig htful sove reigns of the soil, they came 
to the valleys of the Miamis and Wyandots as refugees 
from a devastating war, and as supplicants for mercy and 
protection. This is recognized by the Quaker, Henry 
Harvey, who was partial to them, and for many years 
dwelt among them as a missionary. Harvey says that 
from the accounts of the various treaties to which they 
were parties, "they had been disinherited altogether, as 
far as related to the ownership of land anywhere." Yet 
from the lips of the most famous of all the Shawnees, 
came the false but specious reasoning that none of the 
tribes of the northwest, not even the Miamis who had 
received and sheltered them, had a right to alienate any 
of their lands without the common consent of all. "That 
no single tribe had the right to sell; that the power to 
sell was not vested in their chiefs, but must be the act of 
the warriors in council assembled of all the tribes, as the 
land belonged to all — no portion of it to any single tribe." 
This doctrine of communistic ownership was advocated 
by Tecumseh in the face of all the conquests' of the Iro- 
quois, in the face of the claim of the Wyandots to much 
of the domain of the present s tate of Ohi o, and in the 
face of all of Little Turtle's claims to the Maumee and the 
Wabash valleys, founded on long and undisputed occu- 



60 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

pancy and possession. It never had any authority, either 
in fact or in history, and moreover, lacked the great and 
saving grace of originality. For if any Indian was the 
author of the doctrine that no single tribeof Indians 
had the power to alienate their soil, without the consent 
of all the other tribes, the first Indian to clearly state 
that proposition was Joseph Brant of the Mohawk nation, 
and Brant was clearly inspired by the British, at the hands 
of whom he was a pensioner. 

The savage warriors of the northwest were not for- 
midable in numbers, but they were terrible in their 
ferocity, their knowledge of woodcraft, and their cunning 
strategy. General Harrison says that for a decade prior 
to the treaty of Greenville, the alli ed trib es could not at 
any time have brought into the field over thr ee th ousand 
warriors. This statement is corroborated by Colonel 
James Smith, who had an intimate knowledge of the 
Wyandots and other tribes, and who says : "I am of the 
opinion that from Braddock's war, until the present time 
(1799), there never was more than three thousand In- 
dians at any time, in arms against us, west of Fort Pitt, 
and frequently not half .that number." 

Constant warfare with the colonies and the Kentucky 
and Virginia hunting shirt men had greatly reduced their 
numbers, but above all the terrible ravages of smallpox, 
the insidious effects flowing from the use of intoxicants, 
and the spread of venereal disorders among them, which 
latter diseases they had no means of combating, had car- 
ried away thousands and reduced the ranks of their 
valiant armies. 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 61 

Woe to the general, however, who lightly estimated 
their fighting qualities, or thought that these "rude and 
undisciplined" savages, as they were sometimes called, 
could be met and overpowered by the tactics of the armies 
of Europe or America! They were, says Harrison, "a 
body of the finest light troops in the world," and this 
opinion is corroborated by Theodore Roosevelt, who had 
some first hand knowledge of Indian fighters. The Wyan- 
dots and Miamis, specially, as well as other western 
bands, taught the males of their tribes the arts of war 
from their earliest youth. When old enough to bear 
arms, they were disciplined to act in concert, to obey 
punctually all commands of their war chiefs, and cheer- 
fully unite to put them into immediate execution. Each 
warrior was taught to observe carefully the motion of 
his right hand companion, so as to communicate any 
sudden movement or command from the right to the left, 
Thus advancing in perfect accord, they could march 
stealthily and abreast through the thick woods and un- 
derbrush, in scattered order, without losing the confor- 
mation of their ranks or creating disorder. These ma- 
neuvers could be executed slowly or as fast as the war- 
riors could run. They were also disciplined to form a 
circle, a semi-circle or a hollow square. They used the 
circle to surround their enemies, the semi-circle if the 
enemy had a stream on one side or in the rear, and the 
hollow square in case of sudden attack, when they were 
in danger of being surrounded. By forming a square and 
taking to trees, they put their faces to the enemy in every 
direction and lessened the danger of being shot from be- 
hind objects on either side. ^ 



62 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

The principal sachem of the village was seldom the 
war chief in charge of an expedition. War chiefs were 
selected with an eye solely to their skill and ability; to 
entrust the care and direction of an army to an inex- 
perienced leader was unheard of. One man, however, 
was never trusted with the absolute command of an army. 
A general council of the principal officers was held, and 
a plan concerted for an attack. Such a council was held 
before the battle of Fallen Timbers, in which Blue Jacket, 
of the Shawnees, Little Turtle of the Miamis, and other 
celebrated leaders participated. The plan thus concerted 
in the council was scrupulously carried out. It was the 
duty of the war chief to animate his warriors by speeches 
and orations before the battle. During the battle he 
directed their movements by pre-arranged signals or a 
shout or yell, and thus ordered the advance or retreat. 
The warriors who crept through the long grass of the 
swamp lands at Tippecanoe to attack the army of Har- 
rison, were directed by the rattling of dried deer hoofs. 

It was a part of the tactics practiced by the war 
chiefs to inflict the greatest possible damage upon the 
enemy, with the loss of as few of their own men as pos- 
sible. They were never to bring on an attack without 
some considerable advantage, "or without what appeared 
to them the sure prospect of victory." If, after commenc- 
ing an engagement, it became apparent that they could 
not win the conflict without a great sacrifice of men, they 
generally abandoned it, and waited for a more favorable 
opportunity. This was not the result of cowardice, for 
Harrison says that their bravery and valor were unques- 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 63 

tioned. It may have been largely the result of a savage 
superstition not to force the decrees of Fate. Says Har- 
rison : "It may be fairly considered as having its source 
in that particular temperament of mind, which they 
often manifested, of not pressing fortune under any sin- 
ister circumstances, but patiently waiting until the 
chances of a successful issue appeared to be favorable." 
When the Great Spirit was not angry, he would again 
favor his children. One tribe among the warriors of the 
Northwest, however, were taught from their earliest 
youth never to retreat; to regard "submission to an ene- 
my as the lowest degradation," and to "consider anything 
that had the appearance of an acknowledgment of the 
superiority of an enemy as disgraceful." These were the 
Wyandots, the acknowledged superiors in the northwest- 
ern confederacy. "In the battle of the Miami Rapids of 
thirteen chiefs of that tribe, who were present, only one 
survived, and he badly wounded." 

The well known policy of the savages to ambush or 
outflank their enemies was well known to Washington. 
He warned St. Clair of this terrible danger in the Indian 
country, but his advice went unheeded. A pre-concerted 
attack might occur on the front ranks of an advancing 
column, and almost immediately spread to the flanks. 
This occurred at Braddock's defeat. The glittering army 
of redcoats, so much admired by Washington, with drums 
beating and flags flying, forded the Monongahela and 
ascended the banks of the river between two hidden 
ravines. Suddenly they were greeted by a terrible fire 
on the front ranks, which almost immediately spread to 



64 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the right flank, and then followed a horrible massacre 
of huddled troops, who fired volleys of musketry at an 
invisible foe, and then miserably perished. When St. Clair 
started his ill-fated march upon the Miami towns in 
1791, his movements were observed every instant of time 
by the silent scouts and runners of the Miamis. Camping 
on the banks of the upper Wabash, and foolishly posting 
his militia far in the front, he suddenly saw them driven 
back in confusion upon his regulars, his lines broken by 
attacks on both flanks, and his artillery silenced to the 
last gun. The attack was so well planned, so sudden and 
so furious, that nothing remained but precipitate and 
disastrous retreat. Out of an army consisting of fourteen 
hundred men and eighty-six officers, eight hundred and 
ninety men and sixteen officers were killed and wounded. 
St. Clair believed that he had been "overpowered by 
numbers," and so reported to the government. "It was 
alleged by the officers," says Judge Burnet, "that the 
Indians far outnumbered the American troops. That 
conclusion was drawn, in part, from the fact that they 
outflanked and attacked the American lines with great 
force, and at the same time on every side." The truth is, 
that St. Clair was completely outwitted by the admirable 
cunning and strategy of Little Turtle, the Miami, who 
concerted the plan of attack, and directed its operation, 
^or is it at all likely that the Indians had a superior 
force. They often attacked superior numbers, if they 
enjoyed the better fighting position, or could take ad- 
vantage of an ambush or surprise. A very respectable 
authority, who has the endorsement of historians, says : 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 65 

"There was an army of Indians composed of Miamis, 
Potawatomis, Ottowas, Chippewas, Wyandots, Dela- 
wares, Shawnees, and a few Mingoes and Cherokees, 
amounting in all to eleven hundred and thirty-three, that 
attacked and defeated General St. Clair on the 4th of 
November, 1791. Each nation was commanded by their 
own chiefs, all of whom were governed by the Little Tur- 
tle, who made the arrangements for the action, and com- 
menced the attack with the Miamis, who were under his 
immediate command. The Indians had thirty killed and 
died with their wounds the day of the action and fifty 
wounded." 

Of such formidable mould, were the redmen of the 
northwest, who went into battle stripped to the skin, and 
with bodies painted with horrible stripes of vermilion. 
So disastrous had been the result of their victories over 
the armies of Harmar and St. Clair, and so illy equipped 
with men, money and supplies was the infant government 
of the United States, that immediately prior to the cam- 
paign of General Anthony Wayne, a military conference 
was held between President Washington, General Knox, 
Secretary of War, and General Wayne, to devise a system 
of military tactics that should thereafter control in the 
conduct of all wars against the Indians of the northwest. 

The development of this system of tactics has been 
outlined by General William Henry Harrison, who was an 
aide to Wayne, in a personal letter to Mann Butler, one 
of the historians of Kentucky. 

It was determined that in all future contests with 
the tribes, that the troops employed should, when in the 



66 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Indian country, be marched in such manner as that the 
order of march could be immediately converted, by simple 
evolution, into an order of battle. In other words, that 
the' troops while actually in the line of march, could be 
almost instantly formed in lines of battle. This was to 
prevent any sudden or unexpected attack, and this was 
always liable to occur in the thickly wooded country. The 
troops were also taught to march in open formation, each 
file to be more than an arm's length from those on the 
right and left. The old European system of fighting men 
shoulder to shoulder was entirely impracticable in a 
wilderness of woods, for it invited too great a slaughter, 
interfered with the movement of the troops, and short- 
ened the lines. The great object of the Indian tactics 
was always to flank their enemy, therefore an extension 
of the lines was highly desirable when entering into 
action. "In fighting Indians, there was no shock to be 
given or received, and a very open order was therefore 
attended with two very great advantages; it more than 
doubled the length of the lines, and in charging, which 
was an essential part of the system, it gave more facility 
to get through the obstacles which an action in the woods 
presented." 

A system was also developed whereby, in case the 
Indians attempted to flank the enemy, they were met by 
a succession of fresh troops coming from the rear to 
extend the lines. When encamped, the troops were to as- 
sume the form of a hollow square, with the baggage and 
cavalry, and sometimes the light infantry and riflemen, 
in the center. A rampart of logs was to be placed around 



THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST 67 

the camp, to prevent a sudden night attack, and to give 
the troops time to get under arms, but this rampart was 
not intended as a means of defense in daylight. "To 
defeat Indians by regular troops, the charge must be 
relied upon; the fatality of a contest at long shot, with 
their accurate aim and facility of covering themselves, 
was mournfully exhibited in the defeats of Braddock and 
St. Clair. General Wayne used no patrols, no picket 
guards. In Indian warfare they would always be cut 
off; and if that were not the case, they would afford no 
additional security to the army, as Indians do not require 
roads to enable them to advance upon an enemy. For 
the same reason (that they would be killed or taken), 
patrols were rejected, and reliance for safety was en- 
tirely placed upon keeping the army always ready for 
action. In connection with this system for constant 
preparation, there was only a chain of sentinels around 
the camps, furnished by the camp guards, who were 
placed within supporting distance." 

The outline and adoption of this system of tactics 
shows that both Washington and Anthony Wayne were 
fully aware of the dangerous nature of their savage ad- 
versaries; that they had a wholesome respect for both 
their woodcraft and military discipline, and that they 
regarded the conquest of the western wilderness as a 
task requiring great circumspection and military genius. 



CHAPTER VII 

REAL SAVAGES 

— The savage painted in his true colors from the stand- 
point of the frontiersman. 

The poets and philosophers who dwelt in security 
far from the frontier posts of danger, have been much 
disposed in the past to extol the virtues of the savage 
and bewail his misfortunes, at the expense of the rugged 
pioneer who had to face his tomahawk and furnish vic- 
tims for his mad vengeance. They went into rhapsodies 
when speaking of the "poor Indian," assuming that in his 
primitive state, before he was corrupted by contact with 
the manners and customs of the white man, he repre- 
sented all that was pure, good and simple, and that only 
after the European came, did this child of nature take 
on that ferocity and savagery that made his name the 
terror of the wilderness. They said that he was cruelly 
and unjustly despoiled of his lands and possessioSis ; 
driven like a wild beast before the face of the settlements, 
and by fraud and force deprived of every right that he 
had enjoyed. These philosophers, while thus impeach- 
ing civilization, were always ready to condemn what they 
termed as the "rude frontiersmen," the men who origin- 
ally made it possible that the land might be inhabited, the 
soil brought to a state of cultivation, and the arts and 
sciences brought to bear upon the wild forces of nature. 

68 



REAL SAVAGES 69 



They were especially severe in their animadversions upon 
the Kentuckians. They denounced their raids upon the 
Indian towns and villages along the Scioto and the Wa- 
bash as barbarous and uncalled for. They pointed to the 
fact that the Kentuckians pursued the Indians with a 
fierce and relentless hatred, using the scalping knife, and 
burning down their cabins and corn fields, forgetting at 
the same time the thousands of Kentuckians cruelly slain, 
the carrying away into captivity of pregnant women and 
innocent children, and the horrible tortures ofttimes in- 
flicted on the aged and the helpless. 

It must never be forgotten that despite his stoicism 
in facing danger, his skill in battle, his power to endure 
privation, and his undoubted valor and bravery, that the 
Indian was a savage, and entertained the thoughts of a 
savage. Toward those who, like the French, pampered his 
appetites and indulged his passions to secure his trade, 
he entertained no malice. The lazy, fiddling Canadians 
who dwelt in Kaskaskia and Vincennes, had no ambition 
to absorb the soil or build up a great commonwealth. The 
little land they required to raise their corn, their vines 
and their onions on, aroused no savage jealousies. But 
from the first moment that the Americans came through 
the gaps and passes of the Blue Ridge, and swept down 
the waters of the Ohio, with their women and children, 
their horses and cattle, the savage scented danger. These 
men were not traders; they came to set up their cabins 
and to build homes. The wild dwellers in the wilderness 
must be tamed or swept back. Conflict was inevitable; 
war certain.. On the one hand was a grim determination 



70 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



to advance civilization ; on the other, just as grim a deter- 
mination to resist it. The savage, employing the same 
arts in his wars with the white man as he did in his wars 
with his fellow savage, used stealth and cunning, the 
ambuscade, the scalping knife, and the tomahawk, and 
tortured his victims at the stake.. A terrible hatred was 
engendered, that meant death and extermination. In 
the sanguinary struggles that followed, many outrages 
were no doubt perpetrated by lawless white men upon the 
Indians. Such men as Lewis Wetzel are no credit to a 
race. But there is no sufficient ground either for the 
exaltation of the savage, or the condemnation of men like 
Boone, Kenton, Hardin and Scott, who stoutly fought in 
the vanguard of civilization. It was a war for suprem- 
acy between white man and red, and the fittest survived. 
The wild hunters of the forest and river, gave way to 
farmers and woodsmen, who made the clearings, built 
their cabins, and laid the foundation for the future great- 
ness of the west. The passing of the tribes was a trag- 
edy, but it would have been a deeper tragedy still, had 
savagery prevailed. 

Among the Indians of the northwest there was one 
tribe that attained a considerable fame. In all their 
forays into Kentucky and Virginia the Wyandots fought 
with the most fearless bravery and the most disciplined 
skill. Their conduct at the battle of Estel's Station met 
with many words of praise from Mann Butler, the Ken- 
tucky historian. It was well known among the settle- 
ments that the Wyandots treated their captives with con- 
sideration, and that they seldom resorted to torture by fire. 



REAL SAVAGES 71 

Though few in numbers, they acquired the acknowledged 
supremacy in the confederation of the northwest, were 
intrusted by Wayne at the treaty of Greenville with the 
custody of the great belt, the symbol of peace and union, 
and were given the principal copy of the treaty of peace. 
Between the Wyandot and the Ottawa, however, and the 
Wyandot and the Potawatomi, there was a striking di- 
vergence. If the Wyandot represented the highest order 
of intelligence among the savages of the northwest, the 
Potawatomi represented one of the lowest. He was dark, 
cruel, treacherous and unattractive, and proved a willing 
tool for murder and assassination in the hands of the 
English. There was no place on earth for the chivalrous 
Kentuckian and the treacherous Potawatomi to dwell in 
peace together, and the imparting of some idea of the true 
nature of this Indian will now engage our attention. 

When the Dutchman put flint-locks and powder into 
the hands of the Iroquois, one of the tribes that he drove 
around the head of the great lakes was the Potawatomi. 
Where did they come from? The Jesuit Relation says, 
from the western shores of Lake Huron, and the Jesuit 
Fathers knew more about the Algonquin tribes of Can- 
ada and the west than all others. All accounts confirm 
that they were of the same family as the Chippewas and 
Ottawas. From the head of Lakes Huron and Michigan 
they were forced to the west and then driven to the south. 
In 1670 it is known that a portion of them were on the 
islands in the mouth of Green bay. They were then mov- 
ing southward, probably impelled by the fierce fighting 
Sioux, whom Colonel Roosevelt so appropriately named 



72 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



the "horse Indians," of the west. At the close of the 
seventeenth century they were on the Milwaukee river, 
in the vicinity of Chicago, and on the St. Joseph river 
in southern Michigan. They had gone entirely around 
the northern, western and southern sides of Lake Mich- 
igan, and were now headed in the direction of their 
original habitations. 

According to Hiram W. Beckwith, the Potawatomi 
were the most populous tribe between the lakes and the 
Ohio, the Wabash and the Mississippi. Their debouch 
upon the plains of the Illinois has already been men- 
tioned. This was about the year 1765. The confederacy 
among them, the Kickapoos and the Sacs and Foxes, re- 
sulted in the extermination of the old Illinois tribes, and 
after that extermination, the Kickapoos took possession 
of the country around Peoria and along the Vermilion 
river, (the Potawatomi of eastern and northern Ill inois) 
while the Sacs and Foxes went farther to the west. After 
the treaty of Greenville in 1795, the Potawatomi rapidly 
absorbed the ancient domain of the Miamis in northern 
Indiana, swiftly pressing them back to the Wabash, and 
usurping the major portion of the small lake region in 
the north end of the state. They had now become so 
haughty and insolent in their conduct as to refer to the 
Miamis as "their younger brothers," and the Miamis, by 
reason of their long wars, their commingling with the 
traders, and their acquisition of degenerate habits, were 
unable to drive them back. In 1810 and 1811, Tecumseh 
and the one-eyed Prophet were eagerly seeking an alli- 
ance with their treacherous chiefs. A demand was made 




t ! 



* 





By Courtesy The Chicago Historical Societj* 

Shaubena, the best of the Potawatomi Chiefs, and a follower of Tecumseh. 



REAL SAVAGES 73 

/ 

upon Tecum^^h for the surrender of certain Potawatomi 
murderers and horse thieves who had invaded the Mis- 
souri region and committed depredations, but Tecumseh 
repHed that he was unable to apprehend them, and that 
they had escaped to the Illinois country. The Potawato- 
mi were now living in mixed villages west of the present 
sites of Logansport and Lafayette, and the southern limits 
of their domain extended as far down the Wabash as the 
outlet of Pine creek across the river from the present 
city of Attica. 

The Potawatomi loved the remoteness and seclusion 
of the great prairie, and ma ny of the ir divisions have 
been known as the "prairie" tribes. They seem to have 
lived for the most part in separate, roving bands, which 
divided "according to the abundance or scarcity of game, 
or the emergencies of war." Encouraged by the English, 
they joined in the terrible expeditions of the Shawnees 
and Miamis against the keel-boats on the Ohio, and 
against the settlements of Kentucky. They were in- 
veterate horse-thieves. Riding for long distances across 
plain and prairie, through forests and across rivers, they 
suddenly swooped down on some isolated frontier cabin, 
perhaps murdering its helpless and defenseless inmates, 
taking away a child or a young girl, killing cattle or rid- 
ing away the horses and disappearing in the wilderness 
as suddenly as they emerged from it. In the later days 
of Tecumseh's time, these parties of marauders generally 
consisted of from four or five, to twenty. They were still 
striking the white settlements of Kentucky, and even pene- 
trated as far west as the outposts on the Missouri river. 



74 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Their retreat after attack was made with the swiftness 
of the wind. Pursuit, if not made immediately, was 
futile. Traveling day and night, the murderous riders 
were lost in the great prairies and wildernesses of the 
north, and the Prophet was a sure protector. The sav- 
age chief, Turkey Foot, for whom two groves were named, 
in Benton and Newton Counties, Indiana, stealing horses 
in far away Missouri, murdered three or four of his pur- 
suers and made good his escape to the great plains and 

swamps between the Wabash and Lake Michigan. 

v 
There was nothing romantic about the Potawatomi. 

They were real savages, and known to the French-Cana- 
dians as "Les Poux," or those who ha ve lice, f rom which 
it may be inferred that they were not generally of cleanly 
habits. In general appearance they did not compare 
favorably with the Kickapoos of the Vermilion river. The 
Kickapoo warriors were generally tall and sinewy, while 
the Potawatomi were shorter and more thickly set, very 
dark and squalid. Numbers of the women of the Kicka- 
poos were described as being lithe, "and many of them 
by no means lacking in beauty." The Potawatomi wo- 
men were inclined to greasiness and obesity. The Pota- 
watomi had little regard for their women. Polygamy 
was common among them when visited by the early mis- 
sionaries. The warriors were always gamblers, playing 
heavily at their moccasin games and lacrosse. 

Nothing, however, revealed their savage nature so 
well as their rapid decline under the influence of whis- 
key. As we shall see hereafter, one of the great motives 
that impelled their attacks on the flat boats of the Ohio 



REAL SAVAGES 75 



river, was their desire not only for plunder, but for r um. 
The boats generally contained a liberal supply. Nothing 
was more common than drunkenness after the greedy and 
avaricious traders of the Wabash got into their midst 
and bartered them brandy for their most valuable pel- 
tries. Potawatomi were found camping about Vincennes 
in great numbers and trading everything of value for 
liquor. In General Harrison's day, he endeavored time 
and time again to stop this nefarious traffic. On all oc- 
casions when treaties were to be made, or council fires 
kindled, he issued proclamations prohibiting the sale of 
liquor to the Indians. These proclamations were in- 
serted in the Western Sun, at Vincennes, on more than 
one occasion, but they were unavailing. The temptation 
of a huge profit was too strong. Carousals and orgies 
took place when the Indians were under the influence of 
"fire-water." Fights and murders were frequent. At the 
last ,whiskey destroyed the last vestige of virtue in their 
women, and valor in their warriors. 

After the crushing of the Prophet in 1811, and the 
destruction of British influence in the northwest, conse- 
quent upon the war of 1812, the decline of the Potawatomi 
_was swift and appalling. The terrible ravages of "fire- 
water" played no inconsiderable part. Many of their 
principal chieftains became notorious drunkards reeling 
along the streets of frontier posts and towns and boasting 
of their former praVess. Even the renowned Topeneb ee, 
the last principal chief of the tribe of the river St. Joseph 
was no exception. Reproached by General Lewis Cass, 
because he did not remain sober and care for his people, 



76 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

he answered: "Father, we do not care for the land, nor 
the money, nor the goods; what we want is whiskey! 
Give us whiskey!" The example set by the chiefs was not 
neglected by their followers. 

Nothing can better illustrate the shocking savagery 
and depravity of some of their last chieftains, after the 
tribe had been contaminated by the effect of strong 
liquors, than the story of Wabunsee, principal war chief 
of the prairie band of Potawatomi residing on the Kan- 
kakee river in Illinois, and in his early days one of the 
renowned and daring warriors of his tribe. When Gen- 
eral Harrison marched with his regulars and Indiana and 
Kentucky militia, on the way to the battlefield of Tip- 
pecanoe, he ascended the Wabash river, erecting Fort 
Harrison, near the present site of Terre Haute, and 
christening it on Sunday, the 27th day of October, 1811. 
From here, the army marched up the east bank of the 
river, crossing the deep water near the present site of 
Montezuma, Indiana, and erecting a block house on the 
west bank, about three miles below the mouth of the Ver- 
milion river, for a base of supplies. Corn and provisions 
for the army were taken in boats and pirogues from 
Fort Harrison up the river, and unloaded at this block 
house. On Saturday, the 2nd day of November, John 
Tipton recorded in his diary that, "this evening a man 
came from the Garrison (Fort Harrison) said last night 
his boat was fired on — one man that was asleep killed 
dead.' Beckwith records that the dare-devil "Wabunsee, 
t;he Looking-Glass, principal war chief of the prairie 
^bands of Pottawatomies, residing on the Kankakee river, 



REAL SAVAGES 77 

in Illinois, distinguished himself, the last of October, 
1811, by leaping aboard of one of Governor Harrison's 
supply boats, loaded with corn, as it was ascending the 
Wabash, five miles above Terre Haute, and killing a man, 
and making his escape ashore without injury." Allowing 
a slight descrepancy in dates, this was probably the same 
incident referred to by John Tipton, and taking into con- 
sideration that the boats were probably guarded by armed 
men, this was certainly a daring and adventurous feat. 

Yet it is recorded of this chief, that he always car- 
ried about with him t wo s calps in a buckskin pouch, 
"taken from the heads of soldiers in the war of 1812, and 
when under the influence of liquor he would exhibit them, 
going through the motions of obtaining those trophies." 
Schoolcraft, whose attention was especially drawn to- 
wards this chieftain on account of his drunken ferocity, 
and who paints him as one of the worst of many bad sav- 
ages of his day, says : "He often freely indulged in liquor; 
and when excited, exhibited the flushed visage of a de- 
mon. On one occasion, two of his wives, or rather female 
slaves, had a dispute. One of them went, in her excited 
state of feeling, to Wabunsee, and told him that the other 
ill-treated his children. He ordered the accused to come 
before him. He told her to lie down on her back on the 
ground. He then directed the other (her accuser) to 
take a tomahawk and dispatch her. She instantly split 
open her skull." "There," said the savage, "let the crows 
eat her." He left her unburied, but was afterwards per- 
suaded to direct the murderess to bury her. She dug the 



78 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

grave so shallow, that the wolves pulled out her body 
that night, and partly devoured it." 

The cold, cruel treachery of this tribe is without a 
parallel, save in the single instance of the^hawnees. It 
has been admitted by Sha,ubena, one of their best chiefs, 
that most of the depredations on the frontier settlements 
in Illinois during the Black Hawk war, were committed 
by the Potawatomi. The cowardly and brutal massacre 
at Chicago, August 15, 1812, was the work principally of 
the Potawatomi, "and their several bands from the Illi- 
nois and Kankakee rivers ; those from the Si. Joseph of 
the lake, and the St. Joseph of the Maumee, and those of 
the Wabash and its tributaries were all represented in 
the despicable act." In that massacre, Captain William 
Wells, the brother-in-law of Little Turtle, was killed when 
he was trying to protect the soldiers and refugees. He 
was discovered afterwards, terribly mutilated. His body 
lay in one place, his head in another, while his arms and 
legs were scattered about over the prairie. The warriors 
of this tribe, stripped to the skin, except breech-cloth and 
moccasins, and with bodies painted with red stripes, went 
into battle with the rage of mad-men and demons and com- 
mited every excess known to human cruelty. 

Looking at the Potawatomi in the true light, and 
stripped of all that false coloring with which he has been 
painted, and the facts remains that he was every inch 
a wild and untamed barbarian. And while we must ad- 
mire him for his native strength, his wonderful endur- 
ance through the famine and cold of the northern win- 
ters, and his agility and ingenuity in the chase or on the 



REAL SAVAGES 79 

war-path, it is not any wonder that the children of that 
time, as Judge James Hall relates, "learned to hate the 
Indian and to speak of him as an enemy. From the cradle 
they listened continually to horrid tales of savage vio- 
lence, and became familiar with narratives of aboriginal 
cunning and ferocity." Nor is it any wonder that when 
General Harrison crossed the Wabash at Montezuma and 
gave an order to the advance guard to shoot every Indian 
at sight, that the rough frontiersman, John Tipton, en- 
tered in his diary, "Fine News!" 



CHAPTER VIII 

OUR INDIAN POLICY 

— The Indian right of occupancy recognized through the 
liberal policy of Washington and Jefferson. 

By the terms of the definitive treaty of 1783, con- 
cluding the war of the revolution the territory northwest 
of the river Ohio passed forever from the jurisdiction of 
the British government, over to the new born states of 
the United States. By the first article of that treaty, the 
thirteen former colonies were acknowledged to be free, 
sovereign and independent powers, and Great Britain 
not only relinquished all her rights to the government, 
but to the "proprietory and territorial rights of the same, 
and every part thereof." At the time of that treaty, the 
northwest territory was occupied by a number of power- 
ful and war-like tribes of savages, yet no reservation of 
any kind was made in their favor by the English nego- 
tiators. The Iroquois confederacy of New York, and 
more particularly the Mohawks, had stood out stoutly 
on the side of the king, but they were wholly forgotten in 
the articles of peace. Of this action, Joseph Brant, the 
Mohawk leader, in his communications with Lord Sidney, 
in 1786^ most bitterly complained, expressing his aston- 
ishment "that such firm friends and allies could be so 

80 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 81 

neglected by a nation remarkable for its honor and glory." 
Yet if Brant had been better acquainted with the policy 
and usage of European nations, he would have known 
that England had granted away not only the sovereignty, 
but the very soil of the territory itself, subject only to 
the Indian rights of occupancy. In all the ancient grants 
of the crown to the duke of York, Lord Clarendon and 
others, there passed "the soil as well as the right of 
dominion to the grantee." France, while adopting a 
liberal policy toward the savages of the new world, claim- 
ed the absolute right of ownership to the land, based on 
first discovery. Spain maintained a like claim. The war 
for supremacy in the Saint Lawrence, the Mississippi and 
the Ohio valleys between Great Britain and France, term- 
inating in the peace of 17i63, was a war waged for the 
control of lands and territory, notwithstanding the occu- 
pancy of the Indian tribes. If a country acquired either 
by conquest or prior discovery, is filled with a people 
attached to the soil, and having fixed pursuits and habi- 
tations, the opinion of mankind would seem to require 
that the lands and possessions of the occupants should 
not be disturbed, but if the domain discovered or con- 
quered is filled with a race of savages who make no use 
of the land, save for the purpose of hunting over it, a 
different solution must of necessity result. There can be 
no admixture of races where the one is civilized and the 
other barbarous. The barbarian must either lose his 
savagery and be assimilated, or he must recede. The 
North American Indian was not only brave, but fierce. 
In the wilds and fastnesses of his native land, he refused 



82 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

to become either a subject or a slave. No law of the 
European could be formulated, for his control ; he obeyed 
only the laws of nature under which he roamed in free- 
dom. He knew nothing of fee or seisin, or the laws of 
conveyancing, as his white brother knew it. He knew 
only that the rivers and the forests were there, and that 
he gained his subsistence from them. With him, the 
strongest and the fiercest had the right to rule ; the right 
to hunt the buffalo and elk. The European put fire arms 
into the hands of the Iroquois warrior, and that warrior 
at once made himself master of all north of the Ohio and 
east of the Mississippi, without regard to the prior claims 
of other tribes. To expect that a savage of this nature 
could be dealt with under the ordinary forms and con- 
ventions of organized society, was to expect the im- 
possible. To him, the appearance of a surveyor 
or a log cabin was an immediate challenge to his 
possession. Today he might be brought to make a treaty, 
but on the morrow he was filled with a jealous hate again, 
and was ready to burn and destroy. On the other hand, 
to leave him in the full possession of his country was, as 
Chief Justice Marshall said: "To leave the country a 
wilderness." To stop on the borderland of savagery and 
advance no further, meant the retrogression of civiliza- 
tion. The European idea of ownership was founded on 
user. The inevitable consequence was, that the conquerer 
or discoverer in the new world claimed the ultimate fee 
in the soil, and the tribes receding, as they inevitably did, 
this fee ripened into present enjoyment. When Great 
Britain, therefore, owing to the conquests of George 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 83 



Rogers Clark, surrendered up to the United States her 
jurisdiction and control over the territory north and west 
of the Ohio river, she did, according to the precedent and 
usage established by all the civilized nations of that day, 
pass to her grantee or grantees, the ultimate absolute 
title to the land itself, notwithstanding its savage occu- 
pants, and the right to deal with these occupants thence- 
forward became a part of the domestic policy of the new 
republic, with which England and her agents had noth- 
ing to do. "It has never been doubted," says Chief Jus- 
tice Marshall, "that either the United States, or the sev- 
eral states, had a clear title to all the lands within the 
boundary lines described in the treaty, subject only, to 
the Indian right of occupancy, and that the exclusive 
power to extinguish that right was vested in that govern- 
ment which might constitutionally exercise it." These 
facts should be kept in mind when one comes to consider 
the equivocal course that England afterwards pursued. 

But how were the savage wards occupying these 
lands, and thus suddenly coming under the guardianship 
of the republic, to be dealt with? Were they to be 
evicted by force and arms, and their possessory rights 
entirely disregarded, or were their claims as occupants 
to be gradually and legitimately extinguished by treaty 
and purchase, as the frontiers of the white man ad- 
vanced? In other words, was the seisin in fee on the 
part of the states, or the United States, to be at once 
asserted and enforced, to the absolute and immediate ex- 
clusion of the tribes from the lands they occupied, or was 
a policy of justice and equity to prevail, and the ultimate 



84 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

right to the soil set up, only after the most diligent effort 
to ameliorate the condition of the dependent red man 
had been employed? The answer to this question had 
soon to be formulated, for on March 1st, 1784, Thomas 
Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, 
delegates in the Continental Congress on the part of the 
State of Virginia, in pursuance of the magnanimous 
policy of her statesmen, executed a deed of cession to the 
United States, of all her claim and right to the territory 
northwest of the Ohio, the same to be used as a common 
fund "for the use and benefit of such of the United States 
as have become, or shall become, members of the confed- 
eration or federal alliance of the states." The only res- 
ervations made were of a tract of land not to exceed 
one hundred and fifty thousand acres to be allowed and 
granted to General George Rogers Clark, his officers and 
soldiers, who had conquered Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and 
the western British posts under the authority of Vir- 
ginia, said tract being afterwards located on the Indiana 
side of the Ohio, adjacent to the falls of that river, and 
known as the "Illinois Grant," and a further tract to be 
laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, in 
case certain lands reserved to the continental troops of 
Virginia upon the waters of the Cumberland, "should, 
from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon 
the Cumberland lands than was expected," prove to be 
deficient for that purpose. The cession of Virginia was 
preceded by that of New York on the first day of March, 
1781, and followed by that of Massachusetts, on the 19th 
day of April, 1785, and that of Connecticut on the 14th 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 85 

of September, 1786, and thus the immense domain now 
comprising the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan 
and Wisconsin, with the exception of the reservations 
of Virginia, and a small reservation of the state of Con- 
necticut in northeastern Ohio, passed over to the general 
government, before the adoption of the federal constitu- 
tion, and before George Washington, the first president 
of the United States, was sworn into office, on the 30th 
day of April, 1789. 

But the wisdom and the broad national views of the 
leading Virginia law-makers and statesmen, had already, 
in great measure, pointed the way to the Indian policy to 
be pursued by Washington and his successors. No state, 
either under the old confederation or the new constitu- 
tion, presented such a formidable array of talent and 
statecraft as Virginia. Washington, Jefferson, John 
Marshall, and Madison, stood pre-eminent, but there was 
also Edmund Randolph, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, 
George Mason, William Grayson and Richard Henry Lee. 

Washington had always taken a deep and abiding 
interest in the western country. In 1770 he had made 
a trip down the Ohio in company with his friends. Doctor 
Craik and William Crawford. The distance from Pitts- 
burgh to the mouth of the Great Kanawha was two hun- 
dred and sixty-five miles. The trip was made by canoes 
and was rather hazardous, as none of Washington's party 
were acquainted with the navigation of the river. The 
party made frequent examinations of the land along the 
way and Washington was wonderfully impressed with 
the future prospects of the country. Arriving at the 



86 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

mouth of the Great Kanawha, he ascended that river for 
a distance of fourteen miles, hunting by the way, as the 
land was plentifully stocked with buffalo, deer, turkeys 
and other wild game. He also made critical observations 
of the soil here, with a view to future acquisitions. The 
whole country below Pittsburgh at that time, was wild 
and uninhabited, save by the Indian tribes. 

At the close of the revolution the minds of Wash- 
ington, Jefferson and other leading Virginians were filled 
with the grand project of developing and colonizing the 
west, and binding it to the union by the indissoluble ties 
of a common interest. There was nothing of the narrow 
spirit of provincialism about these men. Their thoughts 
went beyond the limited confines of a single state or sec- 
tion, and embraced the nation. They entertained none of 
those jealousies which distinguish the small from the 
great. On the contrary, they looked upon the mighty 
trans-montane domain with its many watercourses, its 
rich soil, and its temperate climate, as a rich field for 
experimentation in the erection of new and free republics. 
The deed of cession of Virginia had provided : "That the 
territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into new 
states, containing a suitable extent of territory, not less 
than one hundred, nor more than one hundred fifty miles 
square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit: 
and that the states so formed should be distinct republi- 
can states, and admitted members of the federal union, 
having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, and in- 
dependence, as the other states." If this great public 
domain, thus dedicated to the whole nation, and under 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 87 

the control of its supreme legislative body, the conti- 
nental congress, could be filled up with a conglomerate 
population from all the states, factions and sectional 
jealousies would disappear, and at the same time the 
original states would be more closely knit together by 
the bonds of their common interest in the new federal 
territory. 

But there was one great obstacle to the realization 
of these hopes, and that was the difficulty of opening 
up any means of communication with this western em- 
pire. The mountain ranges stood as barriers in the way, 
unless the headwaters of such rivers as the Potomac and 
the James, could be connected by canals and portages 
with the headwaters of the Ohio and its tributaries. If 
this could be accomplished, and if the headwaters of the 
Miami, Scioto and Muskingum, could be connected in 
turn with those of the Cuyahoga, the Maumee and the 
Wabash, then all was well, for this would furnish an 
outlet for the commerce of the west through the ports 
and cities of the Atlantic seaboard. There were other 
and highly important political questions that engaged 
Washington's attention at this time, and they were as 
follows : The English dominion of Canada bordered this 
northwest territory on the north. The British, contrary 
to the stipulations of the treaty of peace of 1783, had re- 
tained the posts of Detroit, Niagara and Oswego, to com- 
mand the valuable fur trade of the northwest, and the 
Indian tribes engaged therein, and in addition they also 
enjoyed a complete monopoly of all trading vessels on the 
Great Lakes. To the south and west of this northwest 



88 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

territory lay the Spanish possessions, and the Spanish 
were attempting to bar the settlers of Kentucky from the 
use of the Mississippi for the purposes of trade. In 
other words, they were closing the market of New Or- 
leans against the Kentuckians. But suppose that either 
or both of these powers, who were then extremely jealous 
of the growth and expansion of the new republic, should 
hold forth commercial advantages and inducements to 
the western people? What then would be the result? 
What then the prospect of binding any new states to be 
formed out of this western territory in the interest of 
the federal union? 

With all these great questions revolving in his mind, 
we see the father of his country again on horseback in 
the year 1784, traversing six hundred and eighty miles 
of mountain wilderness in Pennsylvania and Virginia and 
examining the headwaters of the inland streams. He made 
every inquiry possible, touching the western country, ex- 
amined every traveler and explorer who claimed to have 
any knowledge of its watercourses and routes of travel, 
and after spending thirty-three days of fatiguing travel 
in the saddle, he returned to his home and made a report 
of his observations to Governor Harrison of Virginia. 
His remarks on the western country are so highly inter- 
esting and important, and manifest such a deep and pro- 
found interest in the future welfare of the western world, 
as to call for the following quotations : 

"I need not remark to you that the flanks and rear 
of the United States are possessed by great powers, and 
formidable ones, too; nor how necessary it is to apply 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 89 



the cement of interest to bind all parts of the Union 
together by indissoluble bonds, especially that part of it, 
which lies immediately west of us, with the middle states. 
For what ties, let me ask, should we have upon these 
people? How entirely unconnected with them shall we 
be, and what troubles may we not apprehend, if the Span- 
iards on their right, and Great Britain on their left, in- 
stead of throwing stumbling-blocks in their way, as they 
now do, should hold out lures for their trade and alli- 
ance? What, when they get strength, which will be 
sooner than most people conceive (from the emigration 
of foreigners, who will have no particular predilection 
towards us, as well as from the removal of our own citi- 
zens), will be the consequence of their having formed 
close connections with both or either of those powers, in 
a commercial way? It needs not, in my opinion, the gift 
of prophecy to foretell." 

"The western states (I speak now from my own 
observation) stand as it were upon a pivot. The touch 
of a feather will turn them any way. They have looked 
down the Mississippi, until the Spaniards, very impolit- 
ically, I think, for themselves, threw difficulties in their 
way; and they look that way for no other reason, than 
because they could glide gently down the stream; with- 
out considering, perhaps, the difficulties of the voyage 
back again, and the time necessary to perform it in ; and 
because they have no other means of coming to us, but 
by long land transportations and unimproved roads. 
These causes have hitherto checked the industry of the 
present settlers; for except the demand for provisions. 



90 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

occasioned by the increase of population, and a little 
flour, which the necessities of the Spaniards compel them 
to buy, they have no incitements to labor. But smooth 
the road, and make easy the way for them, and then see 
what an influx of articles will be poured upon us; how 
amazingly our exports will be increased by them, and 
how amply we shall be compensated for any trouble and 
expense we may encounter to effect it." 

"A combination of circumstances makes the present 
conjuncture more favorable for Virginia, than for any 
other state in the union, to fix these matters. The jeal- 
ous and untoward disposition of the Spaniards on the 
one hand, and the private views of some individuals, coin- 
ciding with the general policy of the court of Great Brit- 
ain, on the other, to retain as long as possible the posts 
of Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego (which though done 
under the letter of the treaty, is certainly an infraction 
of the spirit of it, and injurious to the Union) may be 
improved to the greatest advantage by this state, if she 
would open the avenues to the trade of that country, and 
embrace the present moment to establish it. It only 
wants a beginning. The western inhibitants would do 
their part towards its execution. Weak as they are, they 
would meet us at least half-way, rather than be driven 
into the arms of foreigners, or be made dependent upon 
them; which would eventually either bring on a separa- 
tion of them from us, or a war between the United 
States and one or other of those powers, most probably 
the Spaniards." 

These remarks coming from the pen of Wash- 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 91 

ington aroused intense interest in Virginia. He did not 
stop there. On the fourteenth of December, 1784, we 
see him calling the attention of the president of the old 
continental congress to these affairs. He urged, "that 
congress should have the western waters well explored, 
their capacities for navigation ascertained as far as the 
communications between Lake Erie and the Wabash, and 
between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, and a com- 
plete and perfect map made of the country at least as 
far west as the Miamis, which run into the Ohio and 
Lake Erie, and he pointed out the Miami village as the 
place for a very important post for the Union. The ex- 
pense attending such an undertaking could not be great; 
the advantages would be unbounded. "Nature," he said, 
"has made such a display of her bounty in these regions 
that the more the country is explored the more it will rise 
in estimation. The spirit of emigration is great ; people 
have got impatient ; and, though you cannot stop the road, 
it is yet in your power to mark the way. A little while 
and you will not be able to do either." Such were the 
enlightened and fatherly hopes that Washington thus 
early entertained of the great west and its struggling pio- 
neers, who were trying to carve out their destinies in a 
remote wilderness. 

No less enlightened were the views of Jefferson. He 
may be said in truth to be the father of the northwest. 
When a member of the legislature of Virginia, he had 
promoted the expedition under George Rogers Clark, 
which resulted in the conquest of the northwest, and its 
subsequent cession to the United States under the treaty 



92 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of 1783. As governor of Virginia he had taken part in 
its cession to the general government on March first, 1784. 
"On that same day," says Bancroft, "before the deed 
could be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the 
United States, Jefferson, as chairman of a committee, 
presented a plan for the temporary government of the 
western territory from the southern boundary of the 
United States in the latitude of thirty-one degrees to the 
Lake of the Woods. It is still preserved in the national 
archives in his own handwriting, and is as completely 
his own work as the Declaration of Independence." As 
the profoundest advocate of human rights of his day or 
time, freeing himself from the narrow spirit of section- 
alism, and despising human slavery and its contamination 
of the institutions of a free people, he proposed the ulti- 
mate establishment of ten new states in the territory 
northwest of the Ohio, a republican form of government 
for each of them, and no property qualification for either 
the electors or the elected. "Following an impulse of 
his own mind," he proposed the everlasting dedication 
of the northwest to free men and free labor, by provid- 
ing that after the year 1800 there should be neither slav- 
ery nor involuntary servitude in any of them. While 
Jefferson's plan for the exclusion of slavery was stricken 
from the ordinance, his noble ideas of freedom were 
afterwards fully and completely incorporated in the final 
Ordinance of 1787, whereby "neither slavery nor invol- 
untary servitude, in the said territory, otherwise than 
in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted," should ever be permitted. This 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 93 



ordinance, through the predominating influence of Vir- 
ginia and her statesmen, was passed by the vote of 
Georgia, South Carohna, North Carolina, Virginia, Dela- 
ware, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, and 
afterwards ratified by the legislature of Virginia who 
had to consent thereto to give it full force. 

It is at once apparent that these statesmen and 
patriots who looked forward to the establishment of free 
republics in the western domain, based on free labor and 
equal rights, would never consent that the foundation 
of these new republics should be laid in blood. The out- 
rages perpetrated on the frontiers of New York, Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia, and on the infant settlements of 
Kentucky, during the revolution, and all at the instigation 
of the British, had left behind them a loud cry for ven- 
geance. In fact similar outrages were still taking place 
daily. The claim was made that under the treaty of 
peace with Great Britain, that no reservation had been 
made in favor of any of the Indian tribes, or in favor of 
their claims to any of the lands they occupied ; that iinder 
the treaty the absolute fee in all the Indian lands 
within the limits of the United States had passed to the 
several states such as Virginia, who had a legitimate 
claim to them, and later by cession of these states to the 
general government, and that congress "had the right to 
assign, or retain such portions as they should judge 
proper;" that the Indian tribes, having aided Great Brit- 
ain in her attempt to subjugate her former colonies, and 
having committed innumerable murders, arsons and 
scalpings on the exposed frontiers, should now be re- 



94 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

quired to pay the penalty for their crimes; that 
their lands and hunting grounds should stand 
forfeit to the government, and they be expelled there- 
from. In other words, it was asserted that the govern- 
ment should turn a harsh and stern countenance towards 
all these savage marauders and drive them by force, if 
need be, from the public lands. 

Towards all these arguments in favor of a hard and 
uncompromising attitude toward the savage tribes, both 
Washington and Jefferson turned a deaf ear. They as- 
sumed a high plane of mercy and forgiveness towards 
the red man that must ever redound to their glory. On 
August 7th, 1789, in a message to the senate of the United 
States, Washington said : "While the measures of govern- 
ment ought to be calculated to protect its citizens from 
all injury and violence, a due regard should be extended 
to those Indian tribes whose happiness, in the course of 
events, so materially depends upon the national justice 
and humanity of the United States." These sentiments 
were reflected in his course of action from the first day 
of peace with Great Britain. He, together with General 
Philip Schuyler, said, "that with regard to these children 
of the forest, a veil should be drawn over the past, and 
that they should be taught that their true interest and 
safety must henceforth depend upon the cultivation of 
amicable relations with the United States." He took the 
high ground that peace should be at once granted to the 
several tribes, and treaties entered into with them, as- 
signing them certain lands and possessions, within the 
limits of which they should not be molested. To avoid 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 95 

national dishonor, he advocated the purchase of all lands 
occupied by the various Indian tribes as the advance of 
the settlements should seem to require, thus fully recog- 
nizing the Indian right of occupancy. He utterly re- 
jected all ideas of conquest, and as he commanded a 
powerful influence over all the better minds of that day, 
his counsels prevailed. 

To those who have read Jefferson's speeches to the 
Little Turtle, the Miamis, Potawatomi and Delawares in 
the year 1808, near the close of his second administration, 
the broad humanitarianism and fatherly benevolence of 
the third president is at once apparent. In those ad- 
dresses he laments the "destructive use of spirituous liq- 
uors," the wasting away of the tribes as a consequence 
thereof, and directs the attention of their chieftains to 
"temperance, peace and agriculture," as a means of re- 
storing their former numbers, and establishing them 
firmly in the ways of peace. "Tell this, therefore, to your 
people on your return home. Assure them that no change 
will ever take place in our dispositions toward them. De- 
liver to them my adieux, and my prayers to the Great 
Spirit for their happiness. Tell them that during my 
administration I have held their hand fast in mine ; that 
I will put it into the hand of their new father, who will 
hold it as I have done." Jefferson demanded always that 
the strictest justice should be done toward the tribes, 
and carrying forward his ideas in his first ordinance 
of 1784, for the government of the northwest terri- 
tory, he inserted a provision that no land was to be taken 
up until it had been first purchased from the Indian 



96 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

tribes and offered for sale through the regular agencies 
of the government. 

The tree of justice thus planted by Washington and 
Jefferson, flourished and grew until it produced the mag- 
nificent fruit of the Ordinance of 1787, wherein it is stip- 
ulated that: "The utmost good faith shall always be ob- 
served toward the Indians ; their lands and property shall 
never be taken from them without their consent; and 
in their property, rights and liberty, they never shall be 
invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars 
authorized by congress; but laws founded in justice and 
humanity shall, from time to time be made, for prevent- 
ing wrongs being done them, and for preserving peace 
and friendship with them." 

In order that we may trace the development of the 
principles of equity thus incorporated in the Ordnance of 
1787, and which thenceforward distinguished the do- 
mestic policy of the federal government towards the 
tribes, a brief review of the treaties had and negotiated 
with the Indian tribes prior to that year now becomes 
germane. The first treaty after the revolution was that 
of Fort Stanwix (Rome) New York, concluded on the 
22nd day of October, 1784, by and between Oliver Wol- 
cott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, commissioners 
plenipotentiary of the United States, on the one part, and 
the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations of the Iro- 
quois confederacy, on the other part. This treaty was 
opposed by Joseph Brant, chief of the Mohawks, and a 
firm friend and ally of the British, but supported by the 
Cornplanter, his rival, who was a friend of the United 




Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 97 



States. By its terms the United States gave 
peace to the Senecas, Mohawks, Onondagas and 
Cayugas on their delivery of hostages to secure the 
return of prisoners taken during the Revolution ; secured 
the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, v^ho had fought on the side 
of the United States, in the possession of the lands they 
occupied, and took all the tribes under the protection of 
the federal government. On the other hand, the Iroquois 
tribes yielded to the United States any and all claims to 
the territory west of the western line of Pennsylvania, 
thus surrendering up any further pretensions on their 
part to any of the lands in the northwest territory. The 
treaty seems to have been openly conducted, and really 
exhibited no small degree of leniency on the part of the 
government, as the Mohawks especially had taken part 
in many horrible massacres on the American frontier 
during the Revolution and were the objects of almost 
universal execration. Then again, the Iroquois had really 
sacrificed but little in surrendering their claims to the 
lands west of the Pennsylvania line, for while they had 
at one time undoubtedly conquered all of the tribes east 
of the Mississippi, these days of glory had long since de- 
parted, and the Wyandots, Delawares and Miamis were 
the rightful owners of a large part of the Ohio country. 
The treaty of Fort Stanwix was followed about ninety 
days later by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, concluded on 
the 21st day of January, 1785, at the mouth of Beaver 
creek, in Pennsylvania. The commissioners on the part 
of the United States were George Rogers Clark, Richard 
Butler and Arthur Lee, while the Indian negotiators were 



98 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the "Half-King of the Wyandots, Captain Pipe, and other 
chiefs, on behalf of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa and 
Chippewa nations." By the articles of this treaty the 
outside boundaries of the Wyandots and Delawares were 
fixed as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the River 
Cuyahoga, where the city of Cleveland now stands, and 
running thence up said river to the portage between that 
and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence 
running down said branch to the forks of the crossing 
place above old Fort Laurens ; thence extending westerly 
to the portages between the branches of the Miami of the 
Ohio and the St. Marys; thence along the St. Marys to 
the Miami village; thence down the Maumee to Lake 
Erie; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie to the 
place of beginning. The Wyandot and Delaware nations, 
together with some Ottawa tribesmen dwelling among 
the Wyandots, were given the right and privilege of liv- 
ing and hunting upon the lands embraced within the 
above limits, but the United States reserved tracts of six 
miles square each, at the mouth of the Maumee, at San- 
dusky, and at the portage of the St. Marys and Great 
Miami, as well as some further small tracts at the rapids 
of the Sandusky river, for the establishment of trading 
posts. All land east, south and west of the above boun- 
daries was acknowledged to be the property of the gov- 
ernment, and none of the above tribes were to settle 
upon it. Further reservations for trading posts were 
made at Detroit and Michillimacinac. The Wyandots, 
Delawares, Ottawas and Chippewas were granted peace, 
and at the same time were made to acknowledge the abso- 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 99 

lute sovereignty of the United States. Any Indian com- 
mitting a murder or robbery upon any citizen of the 
United States was to be delivered to the nearest post for 
punishment according to the laws of the nation. The 
third and last treaty before the Ordinance, affecting the 
northwest, was held at the mouth of the Great Miami, on 
January 31st, 1786, between George Rogers Clark, Rich- 
ard Butler and Samuel H. Parsons, commissioners, and 
the murderous and horse-stealing Shawnees, and but for 
the cool daring and intrepidity of Clark, there probably 
would have been a massacre. Some restraint was sought 
to be imposed on the Shawnee raiders who constantly 
kept the frontiers of Kentucky and Virginia in a tur- 
moil. Owing to their absolute hositility, however, and 
the influence of the British agents at Miamitown and 
Detroit, only a few of the younger chiefs attended the 
conference. The Shawnees were made to acknowledge 
the United States as the "sole and absolute sovereigns of 
all the territory ceded to them by a treaty of peace, made 
between them and the king of Great Britain, the four- 
teenth day of January, one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-four," and in turn were granted peace and protec- 
tion. They were allotted certain lands to live and hunt 
upon, on the headwaters of the Great Miami and the Wa- 
bash rivers. 

But a fundamental error had crept into all these 
negotiations, and that was, that the Indians' ancient right 
of occupancy was not recognized. That right of present 
enjoyment and possession, although claimed by savages 
who had waged war without mercy, against women and 



100 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

children, was still a right. In the years to come, and 
after the new constitution of the Union came into force 
and effect, the Supreme court of the United States, sit- 
ting in solemn judgment upon this very question, would 
have to pronounce that the Indian tribes had an unques- 
tioned right to the lands they occupied, "until that right 
was extinguished by a voluntary cession to the govern- 
ment," notwithstanding the fact that the ultimate fee in 
the soil rested in the government. To declare that the 
Iroquois, the Wyandots and the Delawares, suddenly be- 
came divested of every species of property in their lands, 
on the ground that they had forfeited them by waging 
war against the United States, was to declare that which 
could never be defended in a court of conscience and 
equity. But in the first hot moments succeeding the 
Revolution, and before men's minds had time to cool, that 
was practically the principle upon v/hich the continental 
congress had proceeded. 

By consulting the records of the old congress of date 
October 15th, 1783, it is found that a committee com- 
posed of Mr. Duane, Mr, Peters, Mr. Carroll, Mr. Haw- 
kins and Mr. Arthur Lee, to whom had been referred the 
whole question of Indian affairs, had reported in sub- 
stance as follows : That while the Indian tribes were "dis- 
posed to a pacification," that they were not in "a temper 
to relinquish their territorial claims without further 
struggles;" that if the tribes were expelled from their 
lands, they would probably retreat to Canada, where they 
would meet with "a welcome reception from the British 
government;" that this accession of power on the part of 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 101 

Canada would make her a formidable rival in case of 
future trouble, and secure to her people the profits of the 
fur trade; "that although motives of policy as well as 
clemency ought to incline Congress to listen to the prayers 
of the hostile Indians for peace, yet in the opinion of the 
committee it is just and necessary that lines of property 
should be ascertained and established between the United 
States and them, which will be convenient to the respec- 
tive tribes, and commensurate to the public wants, be- 
cause the faith of the United States stands pledged to 
grant portions of the uncultivated lands as a bounty to 
their army, and in reward of their courage and fidelity, 
and the public finances do not admit of any considerable 
expenditure to extinguish the Indian claims upon such 
lands ;" that owing to the rapid increase in population it 
was nceessary to provide for the settlement of the terri- 
tories of the United States ; that the public creditors were 
looking to the public lands as the basis for a fund to dis- 
charge the public debt. The committee went further. 
They reported with some particularity that the Indians 
had been the aggressors in the late war, "without even a 
pretense of provocation ;" that they had violated the con- 
vention of neutrality made with Congress at Albany in 
1775, had brought utter ruin to thousands of families, 
and had wantonly desolated "our villages and settlements, 
and destroyed our citizens;" that they should make 
atonement for the enormities they had perpetrated, and 
due compensation to the republic for their wanton bar- 
barity, and that they had nothing wherewith to satisfy 
these demands except by consenting to the fixing of boun- 



102 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

daries. Wherefore, it was resolved that a convention be 
held with the tribes ; that they be received into the favor 
and protection of the United States, and that boundaries 
be set "separating and dividing the settlements of the 
citizens from the Indian villages and hunting grounds." 

It will be seen that in all this report there is nothing 
said of vested rights, or the just and lawful claims of the 
Indian occupants. If clemency was granted, it was a 
matter of grace. The government claimed the absolute 
jus disponendi, without any word of argument on the 
part of the savages. On the same day that the above 
resolution for holding a convention with the Indian tribes 
was agreed upon, preliminary instructions to the com- 
missioners were decided upon by congress. It was deter- 
mined first, that all prisoners of whatever age or sex 
must be delivered up ; second, that the Indians were to be 
informed that after a long contest of eight years for the 
sovereignty of the country, that Great Britain had re- 
linquished all her claims to the soil within the limits de- 
scribed in the treaty of peace ; third, that they be further 
informed that a less generous people than the Americans 
might, in the face of their "acts of hostility and wanton 
devastation," compel them to retire beyond the lakes, but 
as the government was disposed to be kind to them, "to 
supply their wants, and to partake of their trade," that 
from "motives of compassion' a veil should be drawn over 
what had passed, and boundaries fixed beyond which the 
Indians should not come, "but for the purpose of trading, 
treating, or other business equally unexceptionable." 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 103 

There were other instructions, but is not essential to 
this inquiry that they be enumerated. 

It is at once apparent that the commissioners on 
behalf of the government who went into the treaties 
of P'ort Stanwix, Fort Mcintosh, and that at the mouth 
of the Great Miami, if they obeyed the instructions of 
congress, gave the Indian tribes to understand that the 
United States absolutely owned every foot of the soil of 
the northwest, were entitled to the immediate posses- 
sion of it, and if they allowed the savages to remain upon 
it, and did not drive them beyond the lakes, it was purely 
from "motives of compassion," and not because these 
savages enjoyed any right of occupancy that was bound 
to be respected by the government. That these state- 
ments are true is proven by the report of Henry Knox, 
secretary of war, to President Washington, on June 15th, 
1789, in a review of past conditions relative to the north- 
western Indians. The representations of Knox correctly 
reflected the views of Washington himself. The Secre- 
tary says: "It is presumable, that a nation solicitious of 
establishing its character on the broad basis of justice, 
would not only hesitate at, but reject every proposition 
to benefit itself, by the injury of any neighboring com- 
munity, however contemptible or weak it might be, either 
with respect to its manners or power * * * The Indians 
being the prior occupants, possess the right of the soil. 
It cannot be taken from them unless by their free con- 
sent, or by the right of conquest in case of a just war. 
To dispossess them on any other principle, would be a 
gross violation of the fundamental law of nations, and 



104 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of that distributive justice which is the glory of a na- 
tion." He then says the following: "The time has ar- 
rived, when it is highly expedient that a liberal system 
of justice should be adopted for the various Indian tribes 
within the limits of the United States. By having re- 
course to the several Indian treaties, made by the author- 
ity of congress, since the conclusion of the war with 
Great Britain, except those made in January, 1789, at 
Fort Harmar, it would appear, that congress were of the 
opinion, that the treaty of peace, of 1783, absolutely in- 
vested them with the fee of all the Indian lands within 
the limits of the United States ; that they had the right 
to assign, or retain such portions as they should judge 
proper." Again, and during the negotiations of Benja- 
min Lincoln, Beverly Randolph and Timothy Pickering, 
with the northwestern Indians in 1793, this candid ad- 
mission is made of the former errors in the negotiations 
at Fort Stanwix: "The commissioners of the United 
States have formerly set up a claim to your whole coun- 
try, southward of the Great Lakes, as the property of 
the United States, grounding this claim on the treaty of 
peace with your father, the king of Great Britain, who 
declared, as we have before mentioned the middle of those 
lakes and the waters which unite them to be the boun- 
daries of the United States. We are determined that 
our whole conduct shall be marked with openness and 
sincerity. We therefore frankly tell you, that we think 
those commissioners put an erroneous construction on 
that part of our treaty with the king. As he had not 
purchased the country of you, of course he could not give 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 105 



it away. He only relinquished to the United States his 
claims to it. That claim was founded on a right acquired 
by treaty with other white nations, to exclude them from 
purchasing or settling in any part of your country; and 
it is this right which the king granted to the United 
States. Before that grant, the king alone had a right to 
purchase of the Indian nations, any of the lands between 
the Great Lakes, the Ohio and the Mississippi, excepting 
the part within the charter boundary of Pennsylvania; 
and the king, by the treaty of peace, having granted this 
right to the United States, they alone have now the right 
of purchasing." Thus with perfect candor and justice 
did we afterwards admit that our first treaties with the 
tribes, were founded on a mistaken and arbitrary notion 
of our rights in the premises, and without a due regard 
to the right of occupancy of the Indian nations. A gov- 
ernment thus frank enough to declare its error, should 
have been implicitly trusted by the Indian chieftains, and 
no doubt would have been, but for the constant repre- 
sentations of the British agents who for mercenary gain 
appealed to their fear and prejudice. 

These first errors in our Indian negotiations, how- 
ever, were extremely costly to us, and proved to be so 
many thorns in the side of the republic. On the 20th of 
May, 1785, an ordinance was passed by the continental 
congress "for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands 
in the western territory," recently acquired under the 
treaties of Forts Stanwix and Mcintosh. Beginning at 
the western line of Pennsylvania, ranges of townships 
six miles square were to be laid off, extending from the 



106 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

river Ohio to Lake Erie. These ranges were to be sur- 
veyed under the superintendence of the chief geographer 
of the United States, assisted by surveyors appointed 
from each state, and these surveyors were in turn placed 
over the different companies of chain carriers and axe- 
men. Congress was making strenuous efforts to open up 
the western country to purchase and settlement. 

But at the first attempts of the government sur- 
veyors to enter the Ohio country, they met with a most 
determined resistance from the savages. Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Tupper, of Massachusetts, who went to Pittsburgh 
to run some lines, was enabled to proceed no farther west 
than that station. Captain John Doughty, writing to the 
secretary of war from Fort Mcintosh, on the 21st of 
October, 1785, says "They (the Indians) are told by the 
British, and they are full in the persuasion, that the 
territory in question was never ceded to us by Britain, 
further than respects the jurisdiction or putting the In- 
dians under the protection of the United States. From 
this reasoning they draw a conclusion that our claim in 
consequence of that cession ought not to deprive them 
of their lands without purchase. I believe you may de- 
pend upon it that this is the reasoning of their chiefs. 
I am so informed by several persons who have been 
among them. Our acting upon the late treaty made at 
this place last winter, in beginning to survey their coun- 
try, is certainly one great cause of their present uneasi- 
ness." Everywhere the British partizans of Miamitown 
and Detroit, in order to keep the tribes in firm alliance 
with England, and thus preserve the valuable fur trade, 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 107 

were pointing to the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort 
Mcintosh and telling the Indians that the Americans were 
laying claim to their whole country, and would drive them 
beyond the lakes. The British agents went further. Ac- 
cording to Captain Doughty, certain emissaries of the 
British, who were acquainted with the Indian language 
and manners, were constantly circulating among the In- 
dian towns in the Miami and Wyandot country, making 
presents to the savages, and appealing to their fears. 
From the information of one Alexander McCormick, com- 
municated to Captain Doughty, it appears that some time 
during the season of 1785, a grand council of the tribes 
was held at Coshocton, on the Muskingum. Tribes were 
present from a considerable distance beyond the Missis- 
sippi. The object of this council seems to have been to 
unite all the tribes and oppose the American advance. 
"Two large belts of wampum were sent from the council 
to the different nations, holding that they should unite 
and be at peace with each other." This looked like a 
threat of war. Matthew Elliott, an Indian agent of the 
British, said in the Shawnee town in the presence of 
forty warriors, "that the Indians had better fight like 
men than give up their lands and starve like dogs." 
Simon Girty and Caldwell were among the Del a wares 
and Wyandots advising them to keep away from the con- 
templated treaty at the mouth of the Great Miami. 

In the face of all these portentous happenings the 
adoption of the great Ordinance of 1787, came as a happy 
relief. It was apparent now, to the minds of all right 
thinking men, that an unfortunate interpretation had 



108 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

been made of the treaty of peace; that nothing could 
justify an unlawful seizure of the Indian possessions. It 
might be humiliating to reverse the policy of the gov- 
ernment, and give the British agents a chance to say that 
the United States had been wrong from the beginning, 
but the leading men in the federal councils had deter- 
mined to adhere to the advice of Washington, and pur- 
chase every foot of the Indian lands. The potent words 
of the ordinance that "The utmost good faith shall al- 
ways be observed toward the Indians; their lands and 
property shall never be taken from them without their 
consent," were in every sense truly American and placed 
the nation four-square to all the world. 

As a direct consequence of the new policy toward the 
tribes, as evidenced by the Ordinance of 1787, two sep- 
arate treaties of peace were entered into at Fort Harmar, 
at the mouth of the Muskingum river, on January 9th, 
1789, and in the first year of George Washington's ad- 
ministration. The first treaty was concluded with the 
Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi and 
Sac nations ; the second with the sachems and warriors of 
the Six Nations. About the time of the adoption of the 
Ordinance for the government of the northwest terri- 
tory, the Ohio Company composed of revolutionary ofiii- 
cers and soldiers, had negotiated with congress for the 
purchase of a large tract of land in the Muskingum val- 
ley, and on the 7th day of April, 1788, the town of Mari- 
etta, Ohio, had been established at the mouth of that 
river, opposite Fort Harmar. The purchase by the Ohio 
Company was succeeded by that of John Cleves Symmes, 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 109 



of a large tract of land between the Great and the Little 
Miami rivers, and about the first of January, 1789, the 
foundations were laid of the present city of Cincinnati. 
On October 5th, 1787, Arthur St. Clair, of Revolutionary 
fame, was appointed as the first governor of the north- 
west territory, and on July 9th, 1788, he arrived at Mari- 
etta to assume his duties, to organize the government, 
and adopt laws for the protection of the people. 

The sale of these lands in the Indian country, the 
planting of these new settlements, and the increasing 
tide of men, women and children sweeping down the Ohio, 
to settle in Kentucky, seemed to verify all that the British 
agents had told the Indians respecting the American in- 
tentions. The depredations on the Ohio river, the plun- 
dering of boats, and murder of immigrants and settlers, 
were on the increase. Governor St. Clair had been given 
instructions by congress on the 26th day of October, 
1787, to negotiate if possible an effectual peace. He was 
to feel out the tribes, ascertain if possible their leading 
head men and warriors and attach them to the interests 
of the United States. The primary object of the treaty 
was declared to be the removing of all causes of con- 
troversy, and the establishment of peace and harmony 
between the United States and the Indian tribes. On 
July 2nd, 1788, he was given additional instructions and 
informed that the sum of twenty thousand dollars had 
been appropriated, in addition to six thousand dollars 
theretofore set aside, for the specific purpose of obtain- 
ing a boundary advantageous to the United States, "and 
for further extinguishing by purchase, Indian titles, in 



110 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

case it can be done on terms beneficial to the Union." 
Congress was evidently seeking to carry out the letter 
and spirit of the Ordinance, and to extinguish the Indian 
right of occupancy, by fair negotiation and purchase. 

Time will not be taken here to enumerate the many 
difficulties encountered by General St. Clair in the nego- 
tiation of the treaty at Fort Harmar. The violent op- 
position of Joseph Brant and the Indian department of 
the British government will be treated under another 
head. Suffice it to say that President Washington al- 
ways considered this as a fair treaty. In the instructions 
given by the government to General Rufus Putnam in 
1792, this language occurs : "You may say that we con- 
ceive the treaty of Fort Harmar to have been formed by 
the tribes having a just right to make the same, and that 
it was done with their full understanding and free con- 
sent." 

Tarhe, a prominent chief of the Wyandots, said at 
the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, to General Wayne: 
"Brother, you have proposed to us to build our good 
work on the treaty of Muskingum (Fort Harmar) ; that 
treaty I have always considered as founded upon the 
fairest pronciples * * * i have always looked upon 
that treaty to be binding upon the United States and us 
Indians." The same boundaries were fixed between the 
United States and the Wyandots and Delawares, as were 
fixed in the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, and the Six Na- 
tions ceded to the government all lands west of the Penn- 
sylvania line, but this time a valuable consideration was 
given for the land, and the United States "relinquished 



OUR INDIAN POLICY 111 

and quit claimed" to the tribes all claims to the territory 
embraced within the Indian boundaries "to live and hunt 
upon, and otherwise to occupy as they shall see fit." In 
other words, and as Secretary of War Knox says, con- 
gress had appropriated a sum of money solely for the 
purpose of extinguishing the Indian title, and for ob- 
taining regular conveyances from the Indians, and this 
was accordingly accomplished. One who reads of this 
great triumph of right and justice, and this humane and 
merciful treatment of a race of savages, is certainly justi- 
fied in feeling a profound respect and admiration for the 
fathers of the republic. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE KENTUCKIANS 

— The first men to break through the mountain harriers 
to face the British and the Indians. 

While the government of the United States was thus 
shaping its policy toward the Indian tribes, a new empire 
was building on the western waters, that was to wield 
a more powerful influence in the development of the west- 
ern country, than all other forces combined. That em- 
pire was Kentucky. 

The waters of the Ohio "moving majestically along, 
noiseless as the foot of time, and as resistless," sweep 
from the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny to 
the waters of the Mississippi, a distance of nine hundred 
miles, enclosing in their upper courses the island of Blan- 
nerhassett, below the mouth of the Little Kanawha, the 
island of Zane, near Wheeling, and leaping in a descent 
of twenty-two feet in a distance of two miles the Falls 
opposite the present city of Louisville. The lofty emi- 
nences which crowned its banks, the giant forests of oak 
and maple which everywhere approached its waters, the 
vines of the frost-grape that wound their sinuous arms 
around the topmost branches of its tallest trees, pre- 
sented a spectacle that filled the soul of the traveler 
with awe and wonder at every graceful turn of the river. 
In the spring a wonderful transformation took place in 

112 



THE KENTUCKIANS 113 



the brown woods. There suddenly appeared on every 
hand the opening flowers of the red-bud, whose whole top 
appeared as one mass of red blossoms, interspersed with 
the white and pale-yellow blossoms of the dog-wood, or 
cornus florida. Thus there extended "in every direction, 
at the same time, red, white and yellow flowers; at a 
distance each tree resembling in aspect so many large 
bunches of flowers every where dispersed in the woods." 
This was the Belle Riviere, or the beautiful river of the 
French, which they long and valiantly sought to hold 
against the advancing tides of English traders and land 
hunters. This was that glorious gate to the west, through 
which floated the rafts and keel-boats of the American 
settlers who took possession of the great northwest. 

But notwithstanding the beauty and grandeur of 
this stream, there was not, at the close of the French and 
Indian War, on the tenth of February, 1763, a single 
habitation of either white man or savage on either the 
Ohio-Indiana side, or on the Kentucky side of this river. 
Says General William Henry Harrison: "The beautiful 
Ohio rolled its 'amber tide' until it paid its tribute to the 
Father of Waters, through an unbroken solitude. Its 
banks were without a town or village, or even a single 
cottage, the curling smoke of whose chimney would give 
the promise of comfort and refreshment to a weary 
traveler." 

The reason for this solitude is apparent. To the 
south of the Ohio lay the "Dark and Bloody Ground" of 
Kentucky ; "Dark," because of its vast and almost impen- 
etrable forests ; "Bloody," because of the constant savage 



114 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

warfare waged within its limits by roving bands of 
Miamis, Shawnees, Cherokees, and other tribes who re- 
sorted thither in pursuit of game. Says Humphrey Mar- 
shall, the early historian of Kentucky; "The proud face 
of creation here presented itself, without the disguise of 
art. No wood had been felled; no field cleared; no hu- 
man habitation raised; even the redman of the forest, 
had not put up his wigwam of poles and bark for habita- 
tion. But that mysterious Being, whose productive power, 
we call Nature, ever bountiful, and ever great, had not 
spread out this replete and luxurious pasture, without 
stocking it with numerous flocks and herds; nor were 
their ferocious attendants, who prey upon them, wanting, 
to fill up the circle of created beings. Here was seen the 
timid deer; the towering elk; the fleet stag; the surly 
bear; the crafty fox; the ravenous wolf; the devouring 
panther; the insidious wildcat; the haughty bulfalo, be- 
sides innumerable other creatures, winged, four-footed, 
or creeping." 

This was the common hunting ground of the wild 
men of the forest. None took exclusive possession, be- 
cause none dared. The Ohio was the common highway 
of the Indian tribes, and while their war paths crossed 
it at frequent intervals, none were so bold as to attempt 
exclusive dominion over it. 

As was once said in the senate of the United States, 
"You might as well inhibit the fish from swimming down 
the western rivers to the sea, as to prohibit the people 
from settling on the new lands." While the great revolu- 
tion was opening, that should wrest our independence 



THE KENTUCKIANS 115 

from Great Britain, the stream of "long rifles" and hunt- 
ing shirt men of Virginia and Pennsylvania, who fol- 
lowed the valleys of the Allegheny and the Blue Ridge 
from north to south, suddenly broke through the western 
mountain barriers and flowed in diminutive rivulets 
into the basins of the Tennessee, the Ohio and the Cum- 
berland; afterwards forming, as Theodore Roosevelt 
most strikingly says, "a shield of sinewy men thrust in 
between the people of the seaboard and the red warriors 
of the wilderness." In 1774, James Harrod built the 
first log cabin in Kentucky. On the 14th of June, 1775, 
the first fort of the white man was erected at Boones- 
borough. 

The situation of the first pioneers of Kentucky was 
indeed precarious. "They were posted," says Mann But- 
ler, "in the heart of the most favorite hunting ground 
of numerous and hostile tribes of Indians, on the north 
and on the south; a ground endeared to these tribes by 
its profusion of the finest game, subsisting on the lux- 
uriant vegetation of this great natural park. * * * * 
It was emphatically the Eden of the red man." On the 
waters of the Wabash, the Miamis and the Scioto, dwelt 
powerful confederacies of savages who regarded their 
intrusion as a menace and a threat. Behind these sav- 
ages stood the minions of Great Britain, urging war on 
non-combatants and offering bounties for scalps. It was 
three or four hundred miles to the nearest fort at Pitts- 
burgh, and a wilderness of forest and mountain fully 
six hundred miles in extent, separated them from the 
capital of Virginia. 



116 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

But it is to the everlasting glory of these men that 
they knew no fear, and valiantly held their ground. 
Standing as they were, on the very outskirts of civil- 
ization, they looked on the perils of the wilderness with 
unquailing eye, and with stout hearts and brawny arms 
they carried forward the standards of the republic. The 
thin line of skirmishers thus thrown far out beyond the 
western ranges, was all that stood between the grasping 
power of Great Britain, and the realization of her desire 
for absolute dominion over the western country. The 
ambitious projects of her rebel children must be defeated, 
and they must be driven back beyond the great water- 
shed which they had crossed. The western waters were 
to be preserved for the red allies of England, who sup- 
plied her merchants with furs and peltries. The great 
"game preserve," as Roosevelt called it, must not be 
invaded. Years before, a royal governor of Georgia had 
written : "This matter, my Lords, of granting large 
bodies of land in the back part of any of his majesty's 
northern colonies, appears to me in a very serious and 
alarming light; and I humbly conceive, may be attended 
with the greatest and worst of consequences; for, my 
Lords, if a vast territory be granted to any set of gentle- 
men, who really mean to people it, and actually do so, 
it must draw and carry out a great number of people 
from Great Britain, and I apprehend they will soon be- 
come a kind of separate and independent people, who will 
set up for themselves; that they will soon have manu- 
factures of their own; and in process of time they will 
become formidable enough to oppose his majesty's author- 



THE KENTUCKIANS 117 

ity." This, "kind of separate and independent people," 
had now in fact and in reality appeared, and were evinc- 
ing a most decided inclination to "set up for themselves" 
on the king's domain. 

The task of faithfully portraying the heroic valour 
of this handful of men who defended their stockades and 
cabins, their wives and children, against British hate and 
savage inroad, is better left to those who have received 
the account from actual survivors. In 1777, the entire 
army of Kentucky amounted to one hundred and two 
men; there were twenty-two at Boonesborough, sixty- 
five at Harrodsburgh, and fifteen at St. Asaphs, or 
Logan's fort. Around these frontier stations skulked the 
Shawnees, hiding behind stumps of trees and in the 
weeds and cornfields. They waylaid the men and boys 
working in the fields, beset every pathway, watched 
every watering place, and shot down the cattle. "In the 
night," says Humphrey Marshall, "they will place them- 
selves near the fort gate, ready to sacrifice the first person 
who shall appear in the morning; in the day, if there be 
any cover, such as grass, a bush, a large clod of earth, or 
a stone as big as a bushel, they will avail themselves of 
it, to approach the fort, by slipping forward on their 
bellies, within gun-shot, and then, whosoever appears 
first, gets the fire, while the assailant makes his retreat 
behind the smoke from the gun. At other times they 
approach the walls, or palisades, with the utmost audac- 
ity, and attempt to fire them, or beat down the gate. They 
often make feints, to draw out the garrison, on one side 
of the fort, and if practicable, enter it by surprise on the 



118 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

other. And when their stock of provisions is exhausted, 
this being an individual affair, they supply themselves 
by hunting; and again, frequently return to the siege, 
if by any means they hope to get a scalp." In this same 
year of 1777, St. Asaphs, or Logan's fort, was besieged 
by the savages from the twentieth of May until the month 
of September. "The Indians made their attack upon 
Logan's fort with more than their usual secrecy. While 
the women, guarded by a part of the men, were milking 
the cows outside of the fort, they were suddenly fired 
upon by a large body of Indians, till then concealed in the 
thick cane which stood about the cabin. By this fire, 
one man was killed and two others wounded, one mortal- 
ly ; the residue, with the women, got into the fort. When, 
having reached the protection of its walls, one of the 
wounded men was discovered, left alive on the ground. 
Captain Logan, distressed for his situation, and keenly 
alive to the anguish of his family, who could see him 
from the fort, weltering in his blood, exposed every in- 
stant to be scalped by the savages, endeavored in vain 
for some time to raise a party for his rescue. The gar- 
rison was, however, so small, and the danger so appalling, 
that he met only objection and refusal; until John Mar- 
tin, stimulated by his captain, proceeded with him to the 
front gate. At this instant, Harrison, the wounded man, 
appeared to raise himself on his hands and knees, as if 
able to help himself, and Martin withdrew, deterred by 
the obvious hazard; Logan, incapable of abandoning a 
man under his command, was only nerved to newer and 
more vigorous exertions to relieve the wounded man, 



THE KENTUCKIANS 119 

who, by that time, exhausted by his previous efforts, after 
crawling a few paces, had fallen to the ground ; the gen- 
erous and gallant captain took him in his arms, amidst 
a shower of bullets, many of which struck the palisades 
about his head, and brought him into the fort to his de- 
spairing family." 

Let another tale be related of this same Benjamin 
Logan and this same siege. "Another danger now as- 
sailed this little garrison. 'There was but little powder or 
ball in the fort; nor any prospect of supply from the 
neighboring stations, could it even have been sent for, 
without the most imminent danger.' The enemy con- 
tinued before the fort ; there was no ammunition nearer 
than the settlements at Holston, distant about two hun- 
dred miles ; and the garrison must surrender to horrors 
worse than death, unless a supply of this indispensable 
article could be obtained. Nor was it an easy task to pass 
through so wily an enemy or the danger and difficulty 
much lessened, when even beyond the besiegers ; owing to 
the obscure and mountainous way, it was necessary to 
pass, through a foe scattered in almost every direction. 
But Captain Logan was not a man to falter where duty 
called, because encompassed with danger. With two com- 
panions he left the fort in the night and with the sagacity 
of a hunter, and the hardihood of a soldier, avoided the 
trodden way of Cumberland Gap, which was most likely 
to be waylaid by the Indians, and explored his passage 
over the Cumberland Mountain, where no man had ever 
traveled before, through brush and cane, over rocks and 
precipices, sufficient to have daunted the most hardy and 



120 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fearless. In less than ten days from his departure, Cap- 
tain Logan, having obtained the desired supply, and 
leaving it with directions to his men, how to conduct 
their march, arrived alone and safe at his 'diminutive 
station,' which had been almost reduced to despair. The 
escort with the ammunition, observing the directions 
given it, arrived in safety, and the garrison once more 
felt itself able to defend the fort and master its own for- 
tune." The siege was at last raised, but on the body of 
one of the detachment were found the proclamations of 
the British governor of Canada, offering protection to 
those who should embrace the cause of the king, but 
threatening vengeance on all who refused their allegiance. 
Thus it was brought home to the struggling pioneers of 
Kentucky, that the British and the Indians were in 
league against them. 

Men like Daniel Boone, James Harrod and Benjamin 
Logan, fighting, bleeding, hunting game for the be- 
leaguered garrisons, were the precursors of George Rog- 
ers Clark. Clark possessed prescience. He knew the 
British had determined on the extermination of the Ken- 
tucky settlements, because these settlements thwarted 
the British plan of preserving the west as a red man's 
wilderness. He had been in the fights at Harrodstown, 
in 1777, and doubtless knew that the British partisans at 
Detroit were paying money for scalps. Knowing that all 
the irruptions of savages into Kentucky were encouraged 
and set on foot from Kaskaskia, Vincennes and Detroit, 
he suddenly resolved upon the bold project of capturing 
these strongholds. This would put the British upon the 



THE KENTUCKIANS 121 

defensive, relieve the frontiers of Kentucky, Virginia and 
Pennsylvania, and in the end add a vast territory to the 
domain of the republic. In the accomplishment of all 
these designs the soil of Kentucky was to be used as a 
base of operations. 

It is not the purpose of this work to give a history 
of the Clark campaigns, nor of the daring stratagems of 
that great leader in effecting his purposes. Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia, and Vincennes, each in turn fell into his hands, 
and when Henry Hamilton, the British lieutenant-gover- 
nor at Detroit, received the astounding news that the 
French on the^ Mississippi and the Wabash had sworn 
allegiance to the Americans, he abandoned his enterprise 
of capturing Fort Pitt and at once entered upon a cam- 
paign to retrieve the lost possessions and "sweep" the 
Kentuckians out of the country. His scheme was for- 
midable. With a thousand men, and with artillery to de- 
molish the stockades and destroy the frontier posts, he 
proposed to drive the settlers back across the mountains. 
"Undoubtedly," says Roosevelt, "he would have carried 
out his plan, and have destroyed all the settlements west 
of the Alleghenies, had he been allowed to wait until the 
mild weather brought him his host of Indian allies and 
his reinforcements of regulars and militia from Detroit." 
How Clark with his Virginians and Kentuckians, and a 
few French allies from the western posts, anticipated his 
attack, swam the drowned lands of the Wabash, and sur- 
prised him at Vincennes, has been well told. Instead of 
"sweeping" Kentucky, the "hair-buyer" general was 



122 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

taken a prisoner to the dungeons of Virginia, and the new- 
born possessions were erected into the county of Illinois. 

For a number of years following the revolution, there 
were those in the east, and especially in New England, 
who suffered from myopia. They utterly failed to see 
the future of the republic, or the importance of holding 
the western country. To them, such men as Harrod and 
Kenton, Logan and Boone, were "lawless borderers" and 
willful aggressors on the rights of the red man. And yet, 
back of the crowning diplomacy of John Jay, that placed 
our western frontiers on the banks of the Mississippi, 
and extended our northern lines to the thread of the 
lakes, lay the stern resolution of the men of Kentucky 
and the supreme audacity of the mind of Clark. 

To recount the endless horrors endured by the people 
south of the Ohio during the remaining days of the revo- 
lution, and for long years afterwards, would be impos- 
sible. Parties of savages, accompanied ofttimes by 
French-Canadians from Detroit, scoured the country, 
stealing horses, driving away the cattle, attacking soli- 
tary cabins, waylaying the unwary, and often carrying 
women and children away into captivity. "Many fell 
victims to the Indians," says Mann Butler, "many were 
burned and tortured, with every refinement of diabolical 
vengeance; others were harrowed with the recollection 
of their children's brains dashed out against the trees; 
the dying shrieks of their dearest friends and con- 
nexions." In 1781, the raids were appalling. "One of 
the official British reports to Lord George Germaine, 
made in October 23rd of this year, deals with the Indian 



THE KENTUCKIANS 123 

war parties employed against the northwestern frontier. 
'Many smaller Indian parties have been very successful. 

* * * * It would be endless and difficult to enumerate 
to your lordship the parties that are continually employed 
upon the back settlements. From the Illinois country to 
the frontiers of New York there is a continual succession 

* * * the perpetual terror and losses of the inhabi- 
tants will I hope operate powerfully in our favor." In 
1783, twenty-three widows were in attendance at the 
court at Logan's station to take out letters of adminis- 
tration upon the estates of their husbands who had been 
killed in the Indian wars of the day. "Since my first 
visit to this district," says Judge Harry Innes, writing 
from Danville, Kentucky, on the 7th of July, 1790, "which 
was the time above named (1783), I can venture to say, 
that above fifteen hundred souls have been killed and 
taken in this district, and emigrating to it ; that upwards 
of twenty thousand horses have been taken and carried 
off and other property, such as money, merchandise, 
household goods and wearing apparel, have been carried 
off and destroyed by these barbarians, to at least fifteen 
thousand pounds." 

From this crucible of fire and blood a great people 
emerged, hardy, brave, chivalrous, quick to respond to 
the cries and sufferings of others, but with an iron hate 
of all things Indian and British stamped eternally in their 
hearts. Others might be craven, but they were not. 
Every savage incursion was answered by a counter- 
stroke. The last red man had not retreated across the 
Ohio, before the mounted riflemen of Kentucky, leaving 



124 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



old men and boys behind to supply the settlements, and 
with a little corn meal and jerked venison for their pro- 
vision, sallied forth to take their vengeance and demol- 
ish the Indian towns. Federal commanders, secretaries 
of war, even Presidents might remonstrate, but all in 
vain. They had come forth into the wilderness to form 
their homes and clear the land, and make way for civiliza- 
tion, and they would not go back. In every family there 
was the story of a midnight massacre, or of a wife or 
child struck down by the tomahawk, or of a loving father 
burned at the stake. To plead with men whose souls had 
been seared by outrage and horror was unavailing. All 
savages appeared the same to them. They shot without 
discrimination, and shot to kill. They marched with 
Clark, they rode with Harmar, and they fought with 
Wayne and Harrison. In the war of 1812, more than 
seven thousand Kentuckians took the field. It was, as 
Butler has aptly termed it, "a state in arms." You may 
call them "barbarians," "rude frontiersmen," or what you 
will, but it took men such as these to advance the out- 
posts of the nation and to conquer the west. Strongly, 
irresistibly, is the soul of the patriot moved by the story 
of their deeds. 

With all its bloody toil and suffering, Kentucky grew. 
After the spring of 1779, when Clark had captured Vin- 
cennes, the danger of extermination was over. Following 
the revolution a strong and ever increasing stream of 
boats passed down the Ohio. The rich lands, the lux- 
uriant pastures, the bounteous harvests of corn and 
wheat, were great attractions. Josiah Harmar, writing 



THE KENTUCKIANS 125 

from the mouth of the Muskingum in May, 1787, reports 
one hundred and seventy-seven boats, two thousand six 
hundred and eighty-nine men, women and children, one 
thousand three hundred and thirty-three horses, seven 
hundred and sixty-six cattle, and one hundred and two 
wagons, as passing that point, bound for Limestone and 
the rapids at Louisville. On the ninth of December of 
the same year, he reports one hundred and forty-six 
boats, three thousand one hundred and ninety-six souls, 
one thousand three hundred and eighty-one horses, one 
hundred and sixty-five wagons, one hundred and seventy- 
one cattle, and two hundred and forty-five sheep as on the 
way to Kentucky, between the first of June and the date 
of his communication. In 1790, the first census of the 
United States showed a population of seventy-three thou- 
sand six hundred and seventy-seven. On June 1st, 1792, 
Kentucky became the fifteenth commonwealth in the fed- 
eral union ; the first of the great states west of the Alle- 
ghenies that were to add so much wealth, resource and 
vital strength to the government of the United States. 



CHAPTER X 

THE BRITISH POLICIES 

— The British reluctant to surrender the control of the 
Northwest — their tampering with the Indian tribes. 

The seventh article of the definitive treaty of peace 
between the United States and Great Britain in 1783, 
provided that "His Britannic Majesty," should, with all 
convenient speed, "withdraw all his armies, garrisons, 
and fleets from the said United States, and from every 
port, place and harbour within the same," but when de- 
mand was made upon General Frederick Haldimand, the 
British governor of Canada, for the important posts of 
Niagara, Oswego, Michillimacinac and Detroit, he refused 
to surrender them up, alleging that he had no explicit 
orders so to do, and that until he had received such com- 
mands, he conceived it to be his duty as a soldier to take 
no step in that direction. This action of Haldimand was 
cool and deliberate and received the full and entire appro- 
bation of the British cabinet. Tories, and apologists for 
Great Britain, have written much about a justification 
for this action, but there is no real justification. Lord 
Carmarthen, the British secretary of state, afterwards 
said to John Adams that English creditors had met with 
unlawful impediments in the collection of their debts, 

126 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 127 

but the real reason why England violated her treaty he 
did not state. She retained the posts to control the tribes. 
She looked with covetous eye on the lucrative fur-trade 
of the northwest territory upon which the commerce of 
Canada was in great measure dependent, and sooner than 
resist the entreaties of her merchants and traders, she 
was willing to embroil a people of her own race and blood, 
in a series of long and merciless wars with murderous 
savages. For the fact remains, that if England had 
promptly surrendered up the posts; had not interfered 
with our negotiations for peace with the Indian tribes; 
had refused to encourage any confederacy, and had in- 
structed her commanders to keep their spies and agents 
out of American territory, the murders on the Ohio, the 
slaughter of innocents, and the long, costly and bloody 
campaigns in the Indian country might have been avoided. 

Nothing can ever extenuate the conduct of England 
in keeping in her employ and service such men as Alex- 
ander McKee, Matthew Elliott and Simon Girty. The 
chief rendezvous of the tribes after the revolution was 
at Detroit. Here were located a British garrison and a 
British Indian agency. This agency, while guarding the 
trade in peltries, also kept its eye on the fleets that de- 
scended the Ohio, on the growing settlements of Ken- 
tucky, and warned the Indians against American en- 
croachment. In 1778, and while the revolution was in 
progress, the missionary John Heckewelder, noted the 
arrival at Goschochking on the Muskingum, of three rene- 
gades and fugitives from Pittsburg. They were McKee, 
Elliott and Girty. McKee and Elliott had both been 



128 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

traders among the Indians and understood their language. 
All three had deserted the American cause and were 
flying into the arms of the British. They told the Dela- 
wares and Wyandots, "That it was the determination of 
the American people to kill and destroy the whole Indian 
race, be they friends or foes, and possess themselves of 
their country ; and that, at this time, while they were em- 
bodying themselves for the purpose, they were preparing 
fine sounding speeches to deceive them, that they might 
with more safety fall upon and murder them. That now 
was the time, and the only time, for all nations to rise, 
and turn out to a man against these intruders, and not 
even sufl['er them to cross the Ohio, but fall upon them 
where they should find them ; which if not done without 
delay, their country would be lost to them forever." The 
same men were now inculcating the same doctrines at 
Detroit. They pointed out to the Indians that the Ameri- 
cans were bent on extinguishing all their council fires 
with the best blood of the nations ; that despite all their 
fair promises and pretensions, the Americans cared noth- 
ing for the tribes, but only for their lands. That England 
by her treaty had not ceded a foot of the Indian terri- 
tory to the United States. That all the treaties thus far 
concluded with the tribes by the Americans, were one- 
sided and unfair, made at the American forts, and at the 
cannon's mouth. 

A powerful figure now arose among the savages of 
the north. Joseph Brant was a principal chief of the 
Mohawk tribe of the Six Nations of New York. His sister 
Molly was the acknowledged wife of the famous British 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 129 

Indian superintendent, Sir William Johnson. In his 
youth he had been sent by Johnson to Doctor Wheelock's 
charity school at Lebanon, Connecticut, where he learned 
to speak and write English and acquired some knowledge 
of history and literature. In the war of the revolution the 
Mohawks sided with England, and Brant was given a 
colonel's commission. He remained after the war a pen- 
sioner of the British government, and General Arthur St. 
Clair is authority for the statement that he received an 
annual stipend_of four hundred pounds sterling. 

The Mohawks had been terribly shattered and brok- , 
en by the revolution, but they still retained that ascend- 
_ency among the tribes that resulted from their former 
bravery and prowess. In the mind of Brant there now 
dawned the grand scheme of forming a confederacy of all 
the northwestern tribes to oppose the advance of the 
American settlements. The first arbitrary assumptions 
of the continental congress gave him a great leverage. 
They had assumed to exercise an unlimited power of dis- 
posal over the Indian lands. The surveyors of the govern- 
ment were advancing west of the Pennsylvania line and 
staking off the first ranges. Now was the opportune time 
to fan the flame of savage jealousy, and stand with united 
front against the foe. 

It is probable that Brant took part in the grand coun- 
cil held at Coshocton' in 1785, and reported to Captain 
John Doughty by Alexander McCormick. The account 
of McCormick relates that there "were present the chiefs 
of many nations," and that "the object of this council was 
to unite themselves against the white people." There was 



130 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

an excited activity on the part of McKee, Elliott, Cald- 
well and Girty and they were endeavoring to keep the 
tribes away from the American treaties. The newspapers 
of London in speaking of Brant's arrival in England in 
the latter part of the same year, gave accounts of his late- 
ly having presided over a "grand congress of confederate 
chiefs of the Indian nations in America," and said that 
Brant had been appointed to the chief command in the 
war which the Indians meditated against the United 
States. 

In the month of December, 1785, the distinguished 
warrior arrived at the British capital. In an age of less 
duplicity his coming might have excited some feeling of 
compassion. He had journeyed three thousand miles 
across the seas, to see what the great English king could 
do to restore the broken fortunes of his people. The beau- 
tiful valley of the Mohawk was theirs no longer. Their 
ancient castles and villages had been destroyed, or were 
in the hands of strangers. All had been lost in the service 
of the great "father" across the waters. What would that 
"father" now do for his ruined and sorrowing children? 
He reminded Lord Sidney of the colonial department, that 
in every war of England with her enemies the Iroquois 
had fought on her side ; that they were struck with aston- 
ishment at hearing that they had been entirely forgotten 
in the treaty of peace, and that they could not believe it 
possible that they could be so neglected by a nation whom 
they had served with so much zeal and fidelity. The 
Americans were surveying the lands north of the Ohio, 
and Brant now desired to know whether the tribes were 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 131 

still to be regarded as "His Majesty's faithful allies" and 
whether they were to have that support and countenance 
such as old and true friends might expect. In other words, 
the blunt savage wanted to know whether England would 
now support the Indian tribes in beginning hostilities 
against the United States. 

The conduct of the British was characteristic. The 
lands in controversy had just been ceded by solemn treaty 
to the new republic. To openly espouse the cause of 
Brant was to declare war. A little finesse must be re- 
sorted to in order to evade the leading question, and at 
the same time hold the tribes. They therefore wined and 
dined the American chief, and presented him to the king 
and queen, but promised him nothing. Lord Sidney 
rained platitudes. He said the king was always ready 
to attend to the future welfare of the tribes, and upon 
every occasion wherein their happiness might be con- 
cerned he was ready to give further testimony of his royal 
favor. He hoped that they might remain united and that 
their measures might be conducted with temper and mod- 
eration. In the meantime, the arts of diplomacy must be 
employed. The barbarian chief must be bribed with a 
pension, and covertly used as a tool and instrument of 
British design. 

The great chief then and afterwards entertained mis- 
givings, but he proceeded to play the dupe. In November 
and December, 1786, he was back in America, and a great 
council of the north-western tribes was convened at the 
Huron_ village, near the mouth of the Detroit river. Pre- 
sent, were the Fi ve Natio ns, the Hur ons or Wy andots, the 



132 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Potawa tomi, M iamis, and 
some scattering^ bands of the Cherokees. A letter was 
here formulated and addressed to the congress of the 
United States, which at once marks Joseph Brant and 
the British agents back of him as the originators of the 
idea that all the Indian lands were held in common by all 
the tribes, and that no single tribe had the right to alien- 
ate^ In answer to the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort 
Mcintosh, they alleged that congress had hitherto mana- 
ged everything in their own way, and had kindled council 
fires where they thought proper; that they had insisted 
on holding separate treaties with distinct tribes, and had 
entirely neglected the Indian plan of a general conference. 
They held it to be "indispensibly necessary" that any ces- 
sion of Indian lands should be made in the most public 
manner, "and by the united voice of the confederacy;" all 
partial treaties wer^ void and of no effect. They urged a 
full meeting and treaty with all the tribes; warned the 
United States to keep their surveyors and other people 
from crossing the Ohio, and closed with these words: 
"Brothers : It shall not be our fault if the plans which 
we have suggested to you should not be carried into exec- 
ution. In that case the event will be very precarious, 
and if further ruptures ensue, we hope to be able to ex- 
culpate ourselves and shall most assuredly, with our 
united force, be obliged to defend those rights and privi- 
leges which have been transmitted to us by our ancestors; 
and if we should be thereby reduced to misfortune, the 
world will pity us when they think of the amicable pro- 
posals v/nich we now make to prevent the unnecessary ef- 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 133 

fusion of blood. These are our thoughts and fimi resolves, 
and we earnestly desire that you transmit to us, as soon 
as possible, your answer, be it what it may." 

Brant's whole scheme of a confederacy among savage 
tribes was, of course, wild and chimerical. The same 
savage hate and jealousy which was now directed toward 
the Americans, would, at the first favorable moment, 
break out in fiery strifes^nd dissensions in the Indian 
camp, and consume any alliance that might be formed. To 
imagine that the Miami and the Cherokee, the Shawnee 
and the Delaware, the Iroquois and Wyandot, after cen- 
turies of war and bloodshed, could be suddenly brought 
together in any efficient league or combination, that 
would withstand the test of time, was vain and foolish. 
The history of the Indian tribes in America from the days 
of the Jesuit fathers down to the day of Brant, had shown 
first one tribe and then another in the^scendency. Never 
at any time had there been peace and concord. Even with- 
in the councils of the same tribe, contentions frequently 
arose between sachems and chiefs. It is well known that 
in his later days the Little Turtle was almost universally 
despised by the other Miami chieftains. A deadly hatred 
existed between the Cornplanter and Joseph Brant. 
Tecumseh and Winamac were enemies. Governor Arthur 
St. Clair, writing to the President of the United States, on 
May 2, 1789, reported that a jealousy subsisted between 
the tribes that attended the treaty at Fort Harmar ; that 
they did not consider themselves as one people and that 
it would not be difficult, if circumstances required it, "to 
set them at deadly variance." 



134 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Equally pretentious was Brant's claim of a common 
ownership of the Indian lands. The Iroquois themselves 
had never recognized any such doctrine. In October, 
1768, at the English treaty of Fort Stanwix, they had 
sold to the British government by bargain and sale, a 
great strip of country south of the Ohio river, and had 
fixed the line of that stream as the boundary between 
themselves and the English. At that time they claimed to 
be the absolute owners of the lands ceded, to the exclusion 
of all other tribes. At the treaty of Fort Wayne, in 1809, 
between the United States and the northwestern tribes, 
the Miamis claimed the absolute fee in all the lands along 
the Wabash, and refused to cede any territory until a 
concession to that effect was made by William Henry Har- 
rison. In the instructions of Congress, of date October 
26th, 1787, to General Arthur St. Clair, relative to the 
negotiation of a treaty in the northern department, which 
were the same instructions governing the negotiations at 
Fort Harmar in January 1789, specific directions were 
given to defeat all confederations and combinations 
among the^ tribes, for congress clearly saw the British 
hand behind Brant's proposed league, and knew how futile 
it was to recognize any such savage alliance. 

The British officials were well aware of the short- 
comings of Brant's league, but they hailed its advent with 
delight. If the tribes could be collected together under 
the shadow of the British forts, and freely plied by the 
British agents, they could be kept hostile to the American 
vanguard. If the government of the United States could 
not acquire a foothold north of the Ohio, the British forts 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 135 

were safe, and the trade in peltries secure. The result of 
this policy was of course foreseen. It meant war between 
the United States and the Indian tribes. But in the mean- 
time England would hold the fur-trade. Thus in cold 
blood and with deliberation did the British rulers pave 
the way to the coming hostilities. 

In November, 1786, Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord Dor- 
chester, arrived at Quebec. Like most of the royal offi- 
cers of that day he looked with disdain upon the new re- 
public of the United States. It was evident that the old 
confederation could not be held together much longer. 
There was constant strife and jealousy between the states. 
In Massachusetts Shays' rebellion was in progress, which 
seemed at times to threaten the existence of the common- 
wealth itself. The courts were occluded, and the admin- 
istration of justice held in contempt. In the west, the 
people of Kentucky were embittered toward the states of 
the Atlantic seaboard. Their prosperity in great measure 
depended upon the open navigation of the Mississippi, and 
a free market at New Orleans. Spain had denied them 
both, and in the eyes of the Kentuckians congress seemed 
disposed to let Spain have her own way. 

Under all these circumstances, which appeared to be 
so inauspicious for the American government, Dorchester 
determined to keep a most diligent eye on the situation. 
Spain had the nominal control, at least, of the lands west 
of the Mississippi. She had designs on the western terri- 
tory of the United States, and was about to open up an 
intrigue with James Wilkinson and other treasonable con- 
spirators in Kentucky, who had in mind a separation 



136 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

/ 

from the eastern states. To hold the posts within 
the American territory, was to be on the ground 
and ready to act, either in the event of a dis- 
solution of the old confederation, or in case of an attempt 
on the part of Spain to seize any portion of the western 
country. Added to all this was the imperative necessity, 
as Dorchester looked at it, of maintaining a "game pre- 
serve" for the western tribes. If the Americans advanced, 
the Indian hunting grounds were endangered, and this 
would result in lessening the profits of the English mer- 
chants. 

Brant was impatient, but Dorchester, like Lord Sid- 
ney, proceeded cautiously. On March 22, 1787, Sir John 
Johnson, the British Indian superintendent wrote to 
Brant, expressing his happiness that things had turned 
out prosperously in the Indian country, and saying that 
he hoped that the chief's measures might have the effect 
of preventing the Americans from encroaching on the 
Indian lands. "I hope," he writes, "in all your decisions 
you will conduct yourselves with prudence and modera- 
tion, having always an eye to the friendship that has so 
long subsisted between you and the King's subjects, upon 
whom you alone can and ought to depend. You have no 
reason to fear any breach of promise on the part of the 
King. Is he not every year giving you fresh proofs of 
his friendship? What greater could you expect than is 
now about to be performed, by giving an ample compensa- 
tion for your losses, which is yet withheld from us, his 
subjects? Do not suffer bad men or evil advisors to 
lead you astray; everything that is reasonable and con- 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 137 

sistent with the friendship that ought to be preserved be- 
tween us, will be done for you all. Do not suffer an idea 
to hold a place in your mind, that it will be for your in- 
terests to sit still and see the Americans attempt the 
posts. It is for your sakes chiefly, if not entirely that we 
hold them. If you become indifferent about them, they 
may perhaps be given up ; what security would you then 
have? You would be left at the mercy of a people whose 
blood calls aloud for revenge." On May 29th of the same 
year, Major Matthews of the English army, who had been 
assigned to the command of the king's forces at Detroit, 
communicated with Brant from Fort Niagara, expressing 
the views of Dorchester as follows: "In the future his 
Lordship wishes them (the Indians) to act as is best for 
their interests; he cannot begin a war with the Ameri- 
cans, because some of their people encroach and make de- 
predations upon parts of the Indian country; but they 
must see it is his Lordship's intention to defend the posts ; 
and while these are preserved, the Indians must find great 
security therefrom, and consequently the Americans 
greater difficulty in taking possession of their lands ; but 
should they once become masters of the posts, they will 
surround the Indians, and accomplish their purposes with 
little trouble. From a consideration of all which, it there- 
fore remains with the Indians to decide what is most for 
their own interests, and to let his Lordship know their 
determination, that he may take measures accordingly; 
but, whatever their resolution is, it should be taken as by 
one and the same people, by which means they will be 
respected and become strong; but if they divide, and act 



138 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

one part against the other, they will become weak, and 
help to destroy each other. This, my dear Joseph, is the 
substance of what his Lordship desired me to tell you, 
and I request that you will give his sentiments that ma- 
ture consideration which their justice, generosity, and 
desire to promote the welfare and happiness of the In- 
dians, must appear to all the world to merit." Thus did 
this noble lord, while refraining from making an open 
and a manly declaration of war, secretly and clandes- 
tinely set on these savages ; appealing on the one hand to 
their fear of American encroachment, and urging on the 
other the security the tribes must feel from the British 
retention of the frontier posts. In the meantime, he bid- 
ed that moment, when the weakness of the states or their 
mutual dissensions would enable him to come out in the 
open and seize that territory which the king had lately 
lost. One is reminded of the remarks that Tecumseh 
made to Governor William Henry Harrison in 1810. "He 
said he knew the latter (i. e., the English) were always 
urging the Indians to war for their advantage, and not to 
benefit his countrymen; and here he clapped his hands, 
and imitated a person who halloos at a dog, to set him to 
fight with another." 

Pursuant to the instructions of the continental con- 
gress heretofore referred to. Governor Arthur St. Clair, 
in the year 1788, opened up a correspondence with the 
tribes of the northwest in order to bring them to a treaty. 
The government, though suffering from a paucity of 
funds, had determined to enter into engagements looking 
to the fair and equitable purchase of the Indian lands. It 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 139 

was plainly to be seen that unless an accomodation could 
be arrived at with the tribes that the government either 
had to abandon the territory north of the Ohio, or levy 
war. This they were reluctant to do. The treasury was 
practically empty and the people poor. The country had 
practically no standing army, nor was there the means to 
raise one. In fact, the new constitution had not as yet 
been ratified by an adequate number of states, and the 
first president of the United States had not been elected. 
Again, something must be done, if possible, to relieve the 
sufferings of the western people. They were loudly com- 
plaining of the inattention and neglect of the govern- 
ment, and if they were left entirely without support in 
fighting their way to the Spanish markets at New Orleans, 
and in repelling the constant attacks of the Indian raiders 
urged on by British agents, grave doubts might justly be 
entertained of their continued loyalty. In fact, during 
the month of November, in this same year of 1788, the 
infamous Dr. John Connolly, arrived at Louisville. He 
came as a direct agent of Lord Dorchester, seeking to 
undermine the allegiance of the Kentuckians to their gov- 
ernment, and offering them arms and ammunition with 
which to attack the Spaniards. This inglorious mission 
ended in Connolly's disgraceful and cowardly flight. 

In their efforts to negotiate a fair compact, the 
United States had some reason to anticipate a friendly 
disposition on the part of the Delawares and Wyandots. 
Large numbers of the latter tribe had been won 
over to the principles of Christianity and were inclin- 
ed towards peace, but the Miamis of the Wabash, the 



140 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Shawnees and the Kickapoos were hostile. At Miamitown 
were the Little Turtle and Le Oris"; close by, were the 
Shawnees under Blue Jacket ; all were under the influence 
of the Girtys, George and Simon, and all had been engag- 
ed in the Indian raids. The Miami confederates at Eel 
River, Ouiatenon and Tippecanoe all looked to the head 
men at Miamitown for inspiration. Miamitown was in 
turn connected with the British agency at Detroit. The 
j confederates of the Three Fires, the Ottawas or Tawas, 
jithe Chippewas and Potawatomi, otherwise known as the 
' "Lake Tribes," were also under the influence of the Brit- 
ish. On July 5th, 1788, General Arthur St. Clair, writing 
to the Secretary of War from Pittsburg, said that the 
western tribes, meaning those under the influence of the 
Miami chiefs, had been so successful in their depreda- 
tions on the Ohio river, their settlements were so distant 
and "their country so difficult," that they imagined 
themselves to be perfectly safe, and that as they were 
able by these incursions "to gratify at once their passions 
of avarice and revenge, and their desire for spirituous 
liquors, every boat carrying more or less of that commod- 
ity, few of them may be expected to attend ; nor are they 
much to be depended on should they attend generally." 
He further remarked: "Our settlements are extending 
themselves so fast on every quarter where they can be 
extended; our pretensions to the country they inhabit 
have been made known to them in so unequivocal a man- 
ner, and the consequences are so certain and so dreadful 
to them, that there is little probability of there ever be- 
ing any cordiality between us. The idea of being 
ultimately obliged to abandon their country rankles in 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 141 

their minds, and our British neighbors, at the same time 
that they deny the cession of the country made by them, 
suffer them not to forget for a monent the claim that is 
founded upon it." 

The first attempt of the government in 1788, to form 
a treaty ended in disaster. In order to moHify the tribes, 
it was proposed to hold the negotiations at the falls of 
the Muskingum river, in what the Indians were pleased 
to term "their own country" and "beyond the guns of any 
fort." General Josiah Harmar was instructed to erect a 
council house there, and appropriate buildings in which 
to house the goods to be distributed among the Indians. 
On the night of July 12th, some Ottawas and Chippewas 
attacked the sentries and attempted to steal the goods 
they were guarding. Two soldiers were killed and two 
wounded. Friendly Delawares who arrived identififtd an 
Indian who was slain in the fight, as an Ottawa. It was 
learned that both the Chippewas and Ottawas were op- 
posed to a treaty, "and in favor of war, unless the whites 
would agree to the Ohio as a boundary line." Who set 
on these wild tribes from the north may well be imagined. 
General St. Clair now determined to hold the treaty at 
Fort Harmar at the mouth of the Muskingum, and sent a 
message to the tribes now collecting on the Detroit river, 
to that effect. 

The machinations of the British agents at Detroit in 
the summer and autumn of 1788, while involved in some 
degree of mystery, seem to have been about as follows: 
Lord Dorchester was apprehensive that the Americans 
contemplated the taking of the posts and thereby uproot- 



142 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ing the British influence. In order to avoid such action, 
it might be the safer policy to make certain concessions 
and advise the Indians to give up a small portion of the 
territory north of the Ohio, rather than to bring on an 
armed conflict. But all the tribes must be kept together, 
if possible, and under the direction of the authorities at 
Detroit. No single tribe must be allowed to negotiate a 
separate treaty, for that might result in the cultivation 
of friendly relations with the United States, and if one 
tribe could be brought under the American influence, this 
might ultimately lead to the disintegration of the Brit- 
ish power over all. Therefore it was resolved that be- 
fore any negotiations were entered into with General St. 
Clair, that another grand council of the northwestern 
tribes should be held in the valley of the Miami of the 
Lake, or Maumee, and that to that council should be sum- 
moned the principal sachems and warriors of all the 
tribes. Alexander McKee, the British Indian agent, was 
to be there, and Joseph Brant, and all action taken was 
to be under their supervision and control. 

On July 14th, General Richard Butler wrote to Gen- 
eral St. Clair that about eighty chiefs were present at the 
Detroit river, awaiting the arrival of Brant. On August 
the 10th that chieftain reached Detroit, but instead of 
meeting with unanimity of counsel, he found that the 
Wyandots were for "a private and separate meeting with 
the Americans to settle matters for themselves," while 
the warlike Miamis were against any peace at all and in 
favor of open hostilities. After five weeks of waiting and 
cajolery, Brant got them all together in the Miami valley. 



THE BRITISH POLICIES 143 

and the council started to deliberate. The Hurons, Chip- 
pewas, Ottawas, Potawatomi and Delawares stood with 
Brant, and in favor of surrendering up a small portion of 
their country, rather than of entering headlong into a 
destructive war. The Potawatomi, Ottawas and Chip- 
pewas were far to the north and were probably indiffer- 
ent; the Wyandots and Delawares were sincerely for 
peace. But insuperable objections were now offered by the 
Miamis, Kickapoos and the Shawnees. Horse stealing was 
their "best harvest," and the plundering of the boats 
they would not forego. In vain did the Wyandots urge 
a treaty. They presented the Miamis with a large string 
of wampum, but this was refused. They then laid it on 
the shoulder of a principal Miami chieftain, but he turn- 
ed to one side and let it fall on the ground without mak- 
ing any answer. In the end the Wyandots withdrew and 
the council broke up in confusion. It was plain that if 
any agreement was entered into with the American gov- 
ernment that it would not be through any concerted ac- 
tion on the part of the tribes. Tribal jealousy and savage 
hate rendered that impossible. 

It has been related that when Brant perceived that 
his confederacy was a failure, and that he could not se- 
cure united action, that he said "that if five of the Six Na- 
tions had sold themselves to the devil, otherwise the 
Yankees, that he did not intend that the fierce Miamis, 
Shawnees and Kickapoos should do so." However this 
may be, it is evident that from the time of the breaking 
up of the Indian council on the Miami, that Brant and the 
British agents did all that lay within their power to frus- 



144 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

trate the American negotiations with the Wyandots and 
Delawares at Fort Harmar. According to reports reach- 
ing the ears of General St. Clair, stories were placed in 
circulation among the tribes that in case they attended 
the treaty, that the Americans would kill them all, either 
by putting poison in the spirits, or by inoculating the 
blankets that would be presented to them, with the dread- 
ed smallpox. Brant, after coming within sixty miles 
of the fort, turned back to Detroit, taking all the Mo- 
hawks with him, and urging back the oncoming tribes of 
the Shawnees and Miamis. "It is notorious," says Presi- 
dent Washington, in a letter to governor Clinton, of New 
York on December 1st, 1790, " that he (Brant) used all 
the art and influence of which he was possessed to pre- 
vent any treaty being held; and that, except in a small 
degree, General St. Clair aimed at no more land by the 
treaty of Muskingum than had been ceded by the preced- 
ing treaties." 

Thus did the British government, through its duly 
authorized agents, its governor and army officers, retain 
the posts belonging to the new republic, encourage the 
tribes in their depredations, and defeat the pacific in- 
tentions of the American people, and all from the sordid 
motives of gain. On April 30th, 1789, when George Wash- 
ington was inaugurated as the first President, every sav- 
age chieftain along the Wabash, or dwelling at the forks 
of the Maumee, was engaged in active warfare against 
the people of the United States, largely through the in- 
strumentality of the British officials. 



CHAPTER XI 

JOSIAH HARMAR 

— The first military invasion of the Northwest by the 
Federal Government after the Revolution. 

The treaty of Fort Harmar, on January 9th, 1789, so 
far as the Wabash tribes were concerned, was unavailing. 
The raids of the Miamis and the Shawnees continued. 
Murders south of the Ohio were of almost daily occur- 
rence. For six or seven hundred miles along that river 
the inhabitants were kept in a perpetual state of alarm. 
In Kentucky, killings and depredations took place in al- 
most every direction ; at Crab Orchard, Floyd's Fork and 
numerous other places. Boats were constantly attacked 
on the Ohio and whole families slaughtered, and their 
goods and cattle destroyed. 

One hundred and forty-five miles north-west of the 
mouth of the Kentucky river were the Indian villages at 
Ouiatenon, on the Wabash river. On the south side of 
that stream and near the outlet of Wea creek, were the 
towns of the Weas; across the river from these towns 
was a Kickapoo village. About eighteen miles above 
Ouiatenon was the important trading post of Kethtipec- 
anunck (Petit Piconne or Tippecanoe) near the mouth 
of the Tippecanoe river, commanded by the chieftain Little 
Face. About six miles above the present city of Logans- 
port, and on the Eel river, was the Miami village of Kena- 

145 



146 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

pacomaqua or L'Anguille, commanded by "The Soldier." 
At the junction of the St. Marys and the St. Joseph, one 
hundred and sixty miles north of the Kentucky river, was 
the principal Indian village of Kekionga or Miamitown, 
commanded by Pecan and LeGris. All these towns were 
visited by the French and English traders who communi- 
cated with Detroit and all were under the domination and 
control of the British. The savages in these various In- 
dian villages were so far away from the Kentucky settle- 
ments that they considered themselves immune from any 
attacks ; they were taught by the English to look with con- 
tempt upon the American government, and were given to 
understand that as long as the British held the upper 
posts they would be fully protected. In war parties of 
from five to twenty they suddenly appeared upon the 
banks of the Ohio to pillage the boats of the immigrants 
and murder their crews, or crossing that stream they 
penetrated the settlements of the interior, to kill, burn 
and destroy, and lead away horses and captives to the 
Indian towns. Pursued, they were often lost in the al- 
most impenetrable forests of the north, or the savage 
bands scattered far and wide in thicket and swamp. 

In the winter of 1789-1790 strange things were hap- 
pening in the Miami villages on the St. Joseph and the 
Maumee. Henry Hay was there, the British agent of a 
Detroit merchant. Here are some of the facts that he has 
recorded in his diary. LeGris, the Little Turtle, Richard- 
ville, and Blue Jacket, the Shawnee chief, were all in that 
vicinity. George Girty lived close by in a Delaware town. 
He had married an Indian woman and was really a sav- 



JOSIAH HARMAR 147 

age. On the twenty-sixth of December 1789, Girty came 
to Miamitown to report to Hay. He said that the Dela- 
wares were constantly being told by the Miamis that the 
ground they occupied was not theirs ; that the Delawares 
had answered that they were great fools to fight for 
others' lands, and that they would war no longer against 
the Americans, but would remove to the Spanish territory 
beyond the Mississippi. These facts Hay must report in 
writing to Alexander McKee, the British Indian agent. 
On the second of January, 1790, it was reported that 
Antoine Laselle, a French trader who had resided at 
Miamitown for nineteen years, was a prisoner in the 
hands of the Weas. The crime charged against him was 
that he had written a letter to the Americans at Vincennes 
apprising them of an Indian attack, and that as a con- 
sequence of that letter the attacking party had been cap- 
tured. One of them was the son of a Wea who had burn- 
ed an American prisoner at Ouiatenon the preceding sum- 
mer, and the Weas now charged that this son would be 
burned by his American captors. Laselle was supposed 
to be in imminent peril, and all the French and English 
traders at Miamitown called on LeGris. LeGris said that 
he had always warned the traders about penetrating the 
lower Indian country, but that numbers of the French had 
gone to trade there without his knowledge. He had cau- 
tioned Laselle, but Laselle had gone without letting him 
know. If Laselle had told him of his intended trip, he 
would have sent along one of his chiefs with him, or given 
him a belt as a passport. LeGris said that no time must 
be lost, and that he would at once send forward three of 
his faithful warriors to put a stop to the business. On the 



148 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fifth day of January, one Tramblai arrived from Ouiate- 
non, and said that all the reports concerning- Laselle were 
false and that he was having a good trade. On the thir- 
teenth, Laselle himself arrived with Blue Jacket and a 
Frenchman. He bore a letter from the Indians and the 
French-Canadians at Tippecanoe to LeGris, certifying 
that "the bearer Antoine Laselle is a good loyalist and is 
always for supporting the King." That was a satisfac- 
tory certificate of character along the Wabash in 1790. 

On the thirteenth of February, 1790, the Shawnees 
who live near Miamitown, arrive at that village with 
the prisoner McMullen. His face is painted black, as one 
who approaches death. In his hands he holds the "Shish- 
equia" made of deer hoofs. He constantly rattles this de- 
vice, and sings, "Oh Kentuck!" He thinks that the day of 
doom is at hand and that he will be burned at the stake. 
Some Indian chief, however, has lost a son. The paint 
will be washed off and the feathers fastened in his scalp- 
lock, and he will be adopted to take the place of the slain, 
but he does not know that now. The story of his capture 
is typical of the times. He was born in Virginia and 
came to Kentucky to collect a debt. With two compan- 
ions he crosses the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky to 
hunt wild turkeys. They separate in the woods, and the 
Shawnees surround him, and cut off all means of escape 
to the canoe. He tries to break through the encircling 
ring but is hit on the head with a war billet, and now he 
is here. The Shawnee band who captured him were out 
for revenge. Last spring they had gone out to hunt. A 
party of Miamis who were on the war-path returned by 



JOSIAH HARMAR 149 

another route. The Kentuckians who followed them, fell 
in with the Shawnees, and slew some of their women and 
children. Thus runs the tale of blood and reprisal of 
those savage days. 

On the twelfth day of December, 1789, and shortly 
after his arrival at Miamitown, Hay relates that he saw 
the heart of a white prisoner, "dried like a piece of dried 
venison," and with a small stick *'run from one end of it 
to the other." The heart "was fastened behind the fel- 
lows bundle that killed him, with also his scalp." On 
Sunday, the twenty-first day of March, 1790, and shortly 
before Hay's departure from Detroit, a party of bloody 
Shawnees arrived with four prisoners, one of them a 
negro. Terrible havoc had been done on the Ohio. One 
boat had been attacked on which were one officer and 
twenty-one men. All had been killed, the boat sunk, and 
its contents hid in the woods. Nineteen persons had been 
taken near Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky. All 
were prisoners, save two or three. John Witherington's 
family had been separated from him. He had a wife "7 
months gone with child" and seven children. In addition 
to all the above outrages, information was gathered from 
time to time of all affairs along the Ohio. The garrisons 
were numbered, the officers named, and every motion of 
governor St. Clair closely scrutinized. 

Thus in the very heart of the American country did 
British officers and agents control the Indian trade; 
heartlessly wink at or encourage the scalping parties of 
the savages, and keep a close and jealous watch on the 



150 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

numbers and movements of the American forces. The 
diary of the Englishman reveals the whole story. 

The spring of 1790 was one of horror. Says Judge 
Burnet: "The pioneers who descended the Ohio, on their 
way westward, will remember while they live, the lofty 
rock standing a short distance above the mouth of the 
Scioto, on the Virginia shore, which was occupied for 
years by the savages, as a favorite watch-tower, from 
which boats, ascending or descending, could be discovered 
at a great distance. From that memorable spot, hun- 
dreds of human beings, men, women and children, while 
unconscious of immediate danger, have been seen in the 
distance and marked for destruction." On the fourth of 
April, William W. Dowell writing to the honorable John 
Brown of Kentucky, relates that about fifty Indians were 
encamped near the mouth of the Scioto. To decoy the 
passing boats to the shore they made use of a white pris- 
oner, who ran along the bank uttering cries of distress 
and begging to be taken on board. Three boats and a 
pirogue were captured, and several persons brutally 
murdered. A boat belonging to Colonel Edwards of 
Bourbon, Thomas Marshall and others, was hailed by 
the same white prisoner who pleaded to be taken on board 
and brought to Limestone. The stratagem failing to work 
the savages at once exposed themselves and began to fire 
on the boats, but without eflfect. They then pushed off 
from the shore with a boat load of about thirty warriors 
and gave chase, and as they were better supplied with 
oars than the white men, they would have soon overtaken 
them. The cool resolution and presence of mind of one 



JOSIAH HARMAR 151 

Colonel George Thompson now saved the day. He threw 
out all the horses in the boat he commanded, received 
Colonel Edward's crew into his own, and after a frantic 
chase of fifteen miles, effected an escape. Seventeen 
horses were lost, fifteen hundred pounds worth of dry 
goods, and a considerable quantity of household goods. 

The leading spirits in all these attacks at the mouth 
of the Scioto were the Shawnees. The attacks became so 
frequent, that it was now determined to organize a puni- 
tive expedition against them. Two hundred and thirty 
Kentucky volunteers under General Charles Scott crossed 
the river at Limestone and were joined by one hundred 
regulars under General Harmar. They struck the Scioto 
several miles up from its mouth and marched down that 
stream, but the savages scattered in front of them and 
only four Indians were slain. Harmar reported to the 
government that he might as well have tried to pursue 
a pack of wolves. 

The movements of the federal government in 1789 
and 1790 were extremely slow. In the first place, a great 
many of the people of the eastern seaboard regarded the 
Kentuckians and all ultra-montane dwellers with posi- 
tive distrust. This feeling crept into the counsels of the 
government itself. On June 15th, 1789, in a report of 
Henry Knox, secretary of war, to President Washington, 
on the Wabash Indians, the secretary says that since the 
conclusion of the war with Great Britain, "hostilities 
have almost constantly existed between the people of 
Kentucky and the said Indians. The injuries and mur- 
ders have been so reciprocal, that it would be a point of 



152 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

critical investigation to know on which side they have 
been the greatest." It was probably just such senti- 
ments as these that led to the orders of July, 1789, with- 
drawing the Virginia scouts and rangers who had helped 
to protect the frontiers, thus leaving the western people 
entirely dependent upon the limited garrisons stationed 
at the few and widely separated frontier posts. In the 
second place, the government neither had the men nor 
the money at command wherewith to undertake a suc- 
cessful expedition against the savages. The number of 
warriors on the Wabash and its communications were 
placed by Secretary Knox at from fifteen hundred to two 
thousand. This was probably an over-estimate, but the 
Indians were formidable. The regular troops stationed 
at the frontier posts were less than six hundred. To 
organize and equip an army sufficient to extirpate the 
Indians and destroy their towns, would require the rais- 
ing of nineteen hundred additional men, and an expendi- 
ture of two hundred thousand dollars. This was a sum 
of money, says the secretary, "far exceeding the ability 
of the United States to advance, consistently with a due 
regard to other indispensable objects." In the third 
place, the government vainly imagined that it was pos- 
sible to effect a peace with the Wabash tribes. The views 
of Secretary of War Knox were very emphatic on this 
subject. "It would be found, on examination, that both 
policy and justice unite in dictating the attempt of treaty 
with the Wabash Indians; for it would be unjust, in the 
present confused state of injuries, to make war on those 
tribes without having previously invited them to a treaty. 



JASIAH HARMAR 153 

in order amicably to adjust all differences." With these 
views, Washington himself concurred, observing, "that 
a war with the Wabash Indians ought to be avoided by- 
all means consistently with the security of the frontier 
inhabitants, the security of the troops, and the national 
dignity." 

Accordingly, about the first of January, 1790, Gov- 
ernor Arthur St. Clair, descended the river Ohio from 
Marietta, opposite Fort Harmar, to Losantiville, opposite 
the mouth of the Licking river. Here was located Fort 
Washington. He changed the name of Losantiville to 
Cincinnati, organized the county of Hamilton, and pro- 
ceeded to Fort Steuben or Clarksville, at the Falls of the 
Ohio. There he dispatched a messenger to Major John 
Hamtramck, the commandant at Vincennes, with friendly 
speeches to be forwarded by him to the Indians of the 
Wabash. A sincere and honest effort was to be made to 
bring about peace, although St. Clair himself had but 
little faith in an amicable adjustment and expressed the 
opinion that the Miamis and the renegade Shawnees, 
Delawares and Cherokees, lying near them, were "irre- 
claimable by gentle means." The heart "dried like a 
piece of dried venison' was ample proof that St. Clair 
was right. 

The first peace messenger sent by Hamtramck was 
Fred Gamelin, a Frenchman. He proceeded no farther 
than the Vermilion river, where he was informed by an 
Indian that if he~vCent any farther his life would be taken, 
and he returned to Vincennes. On the first of April, 
Hamtramck sent forward Antoine Gamelin, an intelli- 



154 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

gent French merchant. The first village he arrived at 
was close to Vincennes, and was named Kikapouguoi. 
The Indians at this place were friendly, and he proceeded 
up the Wabash. He next arrived at a town of the Ver- 
milion Piankeshaws. The first chief of the village and 
all the warriors seemed to be pleased with the words of 
peace from the Americans, but said that they could not 
give a proper answer before consulting their "eldest 
brethren," the Miamis, They desired that Gamelin should 
go forward to Kekionga or Miamitown, and bring back a 
report of what the head chiefs should say. Gamelin had 
now fairly entered the sphere of British influence. He 
was told that the nations of the lake had a bad heart and 
were ill disposed toward the Americans; that the Shaw- 
nees of Miamitown would never receive his speech. 

Gamelin now advanced to the large Indian village of 
the Kickapoos, situated on the Big Vermilion river, in 
what is now Vermilion County, Indiana. Their principal 
town was on the site of what is now known as "The Army 
Ford Stock Farm," a few miles from the present village 
of Cayuga. This farm has been in the possession of the 
old Shelby family for years. The house contains two or 
three old fireplaces and has been built for about a cen- 
tury. It stands on a high bluff facing the Vermilion 
river, and the view is very picturesque. In making recent 
excavations for gravel along the roadway to the west of 
the buildings, an Indian skeleton was unearthed. It was 
in a fair state of preservation and the teeth in the skull 
were still perfect. There were also several Indian arrow- 
heads, remains of a leathern pouch with a draw-string, 



JOSIAH HARMAR 155 

and parts of a grass-woven blanket. By the side of the 
skeleton of the savage were the bones of a dog, and also 
a small copper bell, which was probably worn about the 
dog's neck. The Kickapoos held the dog in especial vene- 
ration and at the time of the burial of the warrior, fully 
equipped with arms and tobacco for the happy hunting 
ground, the dog was probably slain to accompany his 
master. 

No tribe of savages along the Wabash was more irrec- 
oncilable than the Kickapoos. "They were," says Beck- 
with, "pre-eminent in predatory warfare. Small parties, 
consisting of from five to twenty or more, were the usual 
number comprising their war parties. These would 
push out hundreds of miles from their villages, and swoop 
down upon a feeble settlement, or an isolated pioneer 
cabin, and burn the property, kill the cattle, steal the 
horses, capture the women and children and be off agam 
before the alarm could be given." They were always 
strongly on the British side, and numbers of them fought 
against the Americans at Tippecanoe. 

Gamelin at once encountered opposition. The Kick- 
apoos first found fault with his speech and said that it 
contained a threat of war. Upon his eliminating the ob- 
jectionable words, they said he could go farther up the 
river, but that they could not give a definite answer be- 
cause some of their warriors were absent, and they had 
first to consult the Weas, who were the owners of their 
lands. They next found fault with Gamelin for coming 
among them empty-handed. They said that they expected 
"a draught of milk from the great chief, and the com- 



156 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

manding officer of the post, for to put the old people in 
good humor ; also some powder and ball for the young men 
for hunting, and to get some good broth for their women 
and children." They promised to keep their young men 
from stealing, and to send speeches to their nations in the 
prairies to prevent them from making expeditions. 

On the fourteenth of April, Gamelin held a council 
with the Weas and Kickapoos at Ouiatenon. He found 
everything hostile. As a Frenchman he was welcome, but 
was plainly told that nothing could be done without the 
consent of the Miamis; that it was useless to ask them 
(the Indians) to restrain their young men, for they were 
"being constantly encouraged by the British." One of the 
chiefs said: "Know ye that the village of Ouiatenon is 
the sepulcher of all our ancestors. The chief of America 
invites us to go to him, if we are at peace. He has not 
his leg broke, having been able to go as far as the Illinois. 
He might come here himself; and we should be glad to 
see him at our village. We confess that we accepted the 
axe, but it is by the reproach we continually receive from 
the English and other nations, which received the axe 
first, calling us women ; at the present time they invite our 
young men to war." 

On the eighteenth of April, Gamelin arrived at Kena- 
pacomaqua or L'Anguille. The head chief was absent, 
and the tribesmen would give no answer. However, they 
sent some of their men along to hear what the Miamis at 
Kekionga would say. On the twenty-third of April, 
Gamelin arrived at the head of the Maumee. The next 
day he got the Miamis, the Shawnees and a few Dela- 



JOSIAH HARMAR 157 

wares in council. He presented each tribe with two 
branches of wampum, and began his friendly speeches 
before the French and English traders who had been in- 
vited to be present. After his speeches were delivered 
he displayed the treaty of Fort Harmar. This greatly 
displeased them. 

Nothing can better display the treachery of the 
Miamis on this occasion than the statements of the prin- 
cipal chieftain, LeGris, made to Gamelin in a private 
conversation. After telling the Frenchman not to pay 
any attention to the Shawnees, as they were the "per- 
turbators of all the nations," he said that he knew that 
the Miamis had a bad name on account of mischief done 
on the Ohio, but that this mischief was not occasioned by 
his young men, but by the Shawnees ; that his young men 
had only gone out to hunt. This glaring falsehood v/as 
told in the face of the fact that the Little Turtle himself 
had been out on the warpath only the winter before, re- 
turning with captives and plunder. 

On the twenty-fifth of April, Gamelin held a con- 
ference with the famous Shawnee chief. Blue Jacket. The 
chief was implacable. He informed Gamelin that no 
answer could be given to the American peace messenger 
without hearing from the British at Detroit. That the 
Shawnees had determined to give the two branches of 
wampum back, and to send Gamelin to Detroit, or detain 
him twenty days until an answer could be received from 
the British. The chief also stated that he believed that 
the Americans were guilty of deception. The next day 
after this conference five Potawatomi arrived at Miami- 



158 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

town with two captured negro slaves, which they openly 
sold to the British traders. 

A day of two after the interview with Blue Jacket, 
Gamelin was told by LeGris to call at a French trader's 
house and receive his answer. He was there told that he 
might go back to Vincennes when he pleased, and that no 
definite answer could be given to his speeches "without 
consulting the commandant at Detroit." LeGris pro- 
fessed to be pleased with Gamelin's address, and said that 
it should be communicated to all the confederates, but 
declared that the nations had resolved not to do anything 
without the unanimous consent of the tribes. 

"The same day, Blue Jacket, chief of the Shawnees, 
invited me to his house for supper ; and, before the other 
chiefs, told me that, after another deliberation, they 
thought necessary that I should go myself to Detroit, for 
to see the commandant, who would get all his children 
assembled for to hear my speech. I told them I could 
not answer them in the night; that I was not ashamed 
to speak before the sun." 

"The twenty-ninth of April, I got them all assembled. 
I told them that I was not to go to Detroit; that the 
speeches were directed to the nations of the river Wabash 
and the Miami ; and that, for to prove the sincerity of the 
speech, and the heart of Governor St. Clair, I have 
willingly given a copy of the speeches, to be shown to the 
commandant at Detroit; and, according to a letter wrote 
by the commandant of Detroit to the Miamis, Shawnees, 
and Delawares, mentioning to you to be peaceable with 



JOSIAH HARMAR 159 

the Americans, I would go to him very willingly, if it was 
in my directions, being sensible of his sentiments. I told 
them I had nothing to say to the commandant; neither 
him to me. You must immediately resolve, if you intend 
to take me to Detroit, or else I am to go back as soon as 
possible." 

"Blue Jacket got up and told me, 'My friend, we are 
well pleased with what you say. Our intention is not to 
force you to go to Detroit : It is only a proposal, thinking 
it for the best. Our answer is the same as the Miamis. 
We will send, in thirty nights, a full and positive answer, 
by a young man of each nation, by writing to Post Vin- 
cennes.' In the evening, Blue Jacket, chief of the Shaw- 
nees, having taken me to supper with him, told me, in a 
private manner, that the Shawnee nation was in doubt 
of the sincerity of the Big Knives (Americans), so called, 
having been already deceived by them. That they had 
first destroyed their lands, put out their fire, and sent 
away their young men, being a hunting, without a mouth- 
ful of meat; also, had taken away their women; where- 
fore, many of them would, with great deal of pain, forget 
the affronts. Moreover, that some other nations were 
apprehending that offers of peace would, maybe, tend to 
take away, by degrees, their lands ; and would serve them 
as they did before; a certain proof that they intend to 
encroach on our lands, is their new settlement on the 
Ohio. If they don't keep this side (of the Ohio) clear, it 
will never be a proper reconcilement with the nations 
Shawnees, Iroquois, Wyandots, and perhaps many 
others." 



160 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

On the journey back to Vincennes, every indication 
along the way was threatening. At L'Anguille, Gamelin 
was told that one of the Eel river chieftains had gone to 
war with the Americans; that a few days before his 
arrival a band of seventy Indians, Chippewas and Otta- 
was from Michillimacinac, and some Potawatomi, had 
passed through the village on the way to the American 
frontier. At Ouiatenon, the Weas said that the English 
commandant was their father, and that they could do 
nothing without his approbation. "On the eighth day of 
May, Gamelin returned to Fort Knox, and on the eleventh, 
some traders arrived from the upper Wabash, bringing 
the intelligence that war parties from the north had 
joined the Wabash Indians ; that the whole force of the 
savages had gone to make an attack on the settlements, 
and that three days after Gamelin left the Miamis, an 
American captive had been burned in their village." 

Reluctant as was the government of the United 
States to engage in war with the Wabash Indians, no 
doubt now remained of their warlike intentions. Every 
savage town from the Vermilion Piankeshaws to ancient 
Kekionga, was under British control. On the first of 
May, 1790, Governor Arthur St. Clair transmitted to the 
war department a part of the report of Antoine Gamelin, 
written from Tippecanoe, and observed as follows: "By 
this letter, you will perceive that everything seems to be 
referred to the Miamis, which does not promise a peace- 
able issue. The confidence they have in their situation, 
the vicinity of many other nations not very well disposed, 
and the pernicious counsels of the English traders, joined 




Drawing liy Heaton 



Map of the Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne Campaigns. 



JOSIAH HARMAR 161 

to the immense booty obtained by the depredations upon 
the Ohio, will most probably prevent them from listening 
to any reasonable terms of accommodation, so that it is 
to be feared the United States must prepare effectually to 
chastise them." Shortly afterwards, St. Clair hastened 
to Fort Washington at Cincinnati, and there held a mili- 
tary conference with General Josiah Harmar. Being em- 
powered to call upon Virginia, then including Kentucky, 
for one thousand militia, and upon the State of Pennsyl- 
vania for five hundred more, it was resolved to concen- 
trate three hundred of the Kentucky troops at Fort Steu- 
ben (Clarksville), to march from that place to Post Vin- 
cennes. From thence an expedition under Major John 
F. Hamtramck was to be directed against the villages 
on the lower Wabash, so as to prevent them from aiding 
the Miamis higher up. The remaining twelve hundred 
militiamen were to join the regulars at Fort Washington 
and strike directly across the country to the principal 
Miami village at Kekionga. No permanent military post 
was to be established, however, at the forks of the Mau- 
mee. Secretary of War Knox was fearful of results. 
While admitting that the Miami village presented itself 
"as superior to any other position," for the purpose of 
fixing a garrison to overawe the Indians at the west end 
of Lake Erie, on the Wabash and the Illinois, still, he was 
apprehensive that the establishment of a post at this 
place would be so opposed to the inclinations of the In- 
dians generally as to bring on a war of some duration, 
and at the same time render the British garrisons "so 
uneasy with such a force impending over them, as not 



162 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

only to occasion a considerable reinforcement of their 
upper posts, but to occasion their fomenting, secretly, 
at least, the opposition of the Indians." How any official 
of the government with the report of Antoine Gamelin 
in his hands, could hope to soften the animosity of the 
tribes by the taking of half measures, or to propitiate the 
British by a display of timidity, is hard to conceive. Four 
months later the hesitating secretary changed his course. 

The army with which General Harmar marched out 
of Fort Washington in the latter days of September, 1790, 
to strike the Indian towns, was a motley array. Pennsyl- 
vania had only partly filled her quota. She had sent forth 
substitutes, old and infirm men, and boys. The troops 
from Kentucky had seemingly brought into camp every 
old musket and rifle in the district to be repaired. There 
was a scarcity of camp kettles and axes. The commis- 
sariat was miserably deficient. To add to the confusion, 
the Kentucky militia were divided in their allegiance 
between a certain Colonel William Trotter and Colonel 
John Hardin. Hardin was fearless, but extremely rash; 
Trotter was wholly incompetent. In two or three days 
the Kentuckians were formed into three battalions, under 
Majors Hall, McMullen, and Ray, with Trotter at their 
head. Harmar, an old army officer of the revolution, who 
felt a contempt for all militia, was in sore dismay, for the 
hasty muster was totally lacking in discipline, and im- 
patient of restraint. 

In numbers, as Colonel Roosevelt observes, this army 
was amply sufficient to do its work. It consisted of three 
battalions of Kentucky militia, one battalion of Pennsyl- 



JOSIAH HARMAR 163 

vania militia, one battalion of light troops, mounted, and 
two battalions of the regular army under Major John 
Plasgrave Wyllys, and Major John Doughty; in all, four- 
teen hundred and fifty-three men. There was also a small 
company of artillery, with three small brass field pieces, 
under Captain William Ferguson. But to fight the hardy 
and experienced warriors of the wilderness in their 
native woods, required something more than hasty levies, 
loose discipline, and inexperienced Indian fighters. Har- 
mar was not a Wayne. The expedition was doomed to 
failure from the very beginning. 

The details of the march along Harmar's trace to 
the site of the present city of Fort Wayne it is not neces- 
sary to give. The army moved slowly, and gave the 
British agents under Alexander McKee plenty of time to 
furnish the redskins with arms and ammunition. The 
star of the Little Turtle was in the ascendant. He was 
now thirty-eight years of age, and while not a hereditary 
chieftain of the Miamis, his prowess and cunning had 
given him fame. The Indians never made a mistake in 
choosing a military leader. He watched the Americans 
from the very time of their leaving Fort Washington and 
purposed to destroy them at the Indian town. 

On the fourteenth of October the army reached the 
River St. Mary's, described by Captain John Armstrong 
as a pretty stream, and Hardin was sent forward with 
a company of regulars and six hundred militia to occupy 
Miamitown. He found the villages on both banks of the 
St. Joseph deserted by the foe. The English and French 
traders had fled from the main Indian town on what is 



164 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

now known as the Lakeside shore of the St. Joseph, and 
had carried away most of their valuables. John Kinzie 
and Antoine Laselle were among the refugees. The 
savages had burned the houses in their main village to 
prevent their occupation by the Americans, and had 
buried vast quantities of corn and vegetables in Indian 
caches. One hundred and eighty-five houses of the Dela- 
wares, Shawnees and Miamis, were still left standing in 
the neighboring villages. All of these were destroyed by 
the torch after Harmar's arrival. 

On Sunday the seventeenth, the main army crossed 
the Maumee river from the south and encamped on the 
point of land formed by the junction of the St. Joseph 
and the Maumee. It was a beautiful spot covered by 
the Indian corn fields and gardens. The Kentucky militia 
in parties of thirty and forty, throwing aside all disci- 
pline, wandered about in search of plunder. The Indians 
were wary. They lurked in the woods and thickets, 
biding the time when they might destroy the army in 
detail. Major McMulIen now discovered the tracks of 
women and children in a pathway leading to the north- 
west. Harmar resolved to locate the Indian encampment 
and bring the savages to battle. On the morning of the 
eighteenth, Colonel Trotter was given the command of 
three hundred men, equipped with three days' provisions, 
and ordered to scour the country. The detachment after 
pursuing and killing two Indian horsemen, marched in 
various directions until nightfall, and returned to camp. 
Colonel Hardin was nov/ given command of the expedi- 
tion for the two remaining days. 



JOSIAH HARMAR 165 

An event now took place that at once exhibited both 
the wily strategy of the Little Turtle as a military leader, 
and the blundering bravado of Colonel John Hardin. On 
the morning of the nineteenth, Hardin moved forward 
over the Indian trail leading to the northwest. At a dis- 
tance of some five or six miles from the main army, the 
detachment came upon an abandoned Indian camp. Here 
a halt was made, probably to examine the ground, when 
Hardin hurriedly ordered another advance, thinking he 
was close on the heels of fleeing red men. In the confu- 
sion attending this second movement, Captain Faulkner's 
company was left in the rear. Hardin now proceeded 
about three miles, and had routed two Indians out of the 
thicket, when he suddenly discovered that he had left 
Faulkner behind. He now dispatched Major James Fon- 
taine with a part of the cavalry to locate that officer. 
About this time Captain John Armstrong, who was in 
command of a little company of thirty regulars march- 
ing with the militia, informed Hardin that a gun had 
been fired in front of them which he thought was an 
alarm gun, and that he had discovered the tracks of a 
horse that had come down the trail and had returned. 
Hardin with a dare-devil indifference paid no attention. 
He moved rapidly on without scouts and without flankers. 
Armstrong now warned Hardin a second time. He said 
that he had located the camp fires of the Indians and that 
they must be close at hand. Hardin rode on, swearing 
that the Indians would not fight. 

All at once the army marched into the entrance of 
a narrow prairie, flanked on each side by heavy timber. 



166 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

At the far end of the prairie a fire had been kindled and 
some trinkets placed in the trail. The front columns 
came up to these baubles and halted — the whole detach- 
ment, save Faulkner's company, was in the defile. To 
the right and left of them, concealed in the underbrush, 
were three hundred Miamis, led by the Little Turtle. The 
Indians had divided and "back-tracked" the trail, and 
were now watching the Americans enter the trap. At 
the moment the army halted, a furious fire was opened, 
and all but nine of the militia at once fled, carrying 
Hardin along with them. The company of Faulkner, 
coming up in the rear, suddenly saw two horsemen ap- 
proaching. Each of them had a wounded man behind 
him covered with blood. The fugitives were yelling : "For 
God's sake retreat! You will all be killed! There are 
Indians enough to eat you all up !' The regulars, however, 
true to tradition, stood their ground. All were stricken 
down in their tracks except five or six privates, and their 
captain and ensign. Captain Armstrong sank to his 
neck in a morass, and the savages did not find him. "The 
Indians remained on the field ; and the ensuing night, held 
the dance of victory, over the dead and dying bodies of 
their enemies, exulting with frantic gestures, and savage 
yells, during the ceremony." The captain was a witness 
of it all. The scene of this conflict was at what is now 
known as Heller's Corners, eleven miles northwest of 
Fort Wayne, at the point where the Goshen road crosses 
the Eel river. 

On the day of Hardin's defeat the main body of the 
army had moved down the north bank of the Maumee 



JOSIAH HARMAE 167 

about two miles and had occupied the Shawnee village 
of Chillicothe. On the twentieth, Harmar ordered the 
burning and destruction of every house and wigwam in 
the town, and censured the "shameful cowardly conduct 
of the militia who ran away, and threw down their arms 
without firing scarcely a single gun." He was in a fury, 
and was now determined to march back to Fort Wash- 
ington, and on the twenty-first of October the whole 
army moved back for a distance of seven miles and en- 
camped at a point south and east of the present site of 
Fort Wayne. 

Hardin was chagrined. He determined if possible 
to retrieve his own credit and that of the Kentucky 
militia. In the night he approached Harmar. He told 
the general that the Indians had probably returned to 
their towns as soon as the army had left them. Now was 
the time for a grand surprise. Harmar, after much im- 
portunity, gave his consent to a second expedition. Late 
in the night, three hundred and forty picked militiamen 
and sixty regulars started back for Kekionga. The de- 
tachment marched in three columns, the federal troops 
in the center with Captain Joseph Asheton, a brave oflfi- 
cer and a good fighter at their head ; the militia were on 
both flanks. Major John P. Wyllys and Colonel Hardin 
rode at the front. 

The sun has risen, and the advance guards of the 
small army now ascend the wooded heights overlooking 
the Maumee. Beyond lie the brown woods, the meadows, 
and the Indian corn fields. A few savages appear, dig- 
ging here and there for hidden treasures of corn. All 



168 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

are seemingly unaware of hostile approach. Wyllys now 
halts the regulars, with the militia in the advance, and 
forms his plan of battle. Major Hall with his battalion 
is to swing around the bend of the Maumee, cross the St. 
Marys and come in on the western side of the Indian 
towns. There he is to wait for the main attack. Major 
McMullen's battalion. Major Fontaine's cavalry and Wyl- 
lys with his regulars are to cross the ford in front, en- 
compass the savages on the south, east and north, and 
drive them into the St. Joseph. Hemmed in on all sides, 
exposed to a murderous crossfire, their escape will be im- 
possible. Strict orders are given that the troops are on 
no account to separate, but the battalions are to support 
each other as the circumstances may require. 

What a terrible fate awaits the regulars. The Little 
Turtle had observed that in Trotter's expedition on the 
morning of the eighteenth, the four field officers of the 
militia had left their commands to pursue a lone Indian 
on horseback. As the militia emerge on the northern 
bank of the Maumee a few warriors expose themselves, 
and the Kentuckians disregarding all orders, instantly 
give chase. The Indians fly in all directions, the militia 
after them, and the regulars are left alone. This is the 
opportune moment. As the regulars cross the ford and 
climb the opposite bank, the painted and terrible warriors 
of the Miami chief arise from their hiding places and 
fire at close range. Wyllys falls, his officers fall, all but 
a handful are remorselessly mowed down, scalped and 
mutilated, and the day is won. Thus for the second time 



JOSIAH HARMAR 169 

has the cunning Little Turtle completely outwitted his 
paleface antagonists. 

The remaining details of this disordered conflict are 
soon told. The parties of militia under McMullen and 
Fontaine, sweeping up the east side of the St. Joseph, 
drove a party of Indians into the river near the point of 
the old French fort. Fontaine was hit by a dozen bul- 
lets and fell forward in his saddle. The Indians were 
now caught between Hall's battalion on the west and Mc- 
Mullen's riflemen and Fontaine's cavalry on the east. A 
brief massacre ensued, and Captain Asheton and two sol- 
diers killed a number of the savages in the water with 
their bayonets. The red men finally charged on Hall's 
battalion — it gave way — and they made their escape. 

Captain Joseph Asheton in commenting on this last 
battle at the Maumee, makes the following observation: 
"If Colonel (Major) Hall, who had gained his ground 
undiscovered, had not wantonly disobeyed his orders, by 
firing on a single Indian, the surprise must have been 
complete." The question of whether there was any sur- 
prise at all or not, remains in doubt. The Fort Wayne 
Manuscript, which possesses some historical value at least, 
says that about eight hundred Indians were present; 
three hundred Miamis under the Little Turtle, and a body 
of five hundred more savages, consisting of Shawnees, 
Dela wares, Potawatomi, Chippewas and Ottawas. That 
the Shawnees were commanded by Blue Jacket, and the 
Ottawas and Chippewas by an Ottawa chief named Agas- 
kawak. The battle itself, was skillfully planned on the 
part of the savages. They must have known that the 



170 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

militiamen were in the vanguard and would cross the 
Maumee first. They rightly calculated that the impetu- 
osity of the Kentuckians and their lack of discipline, 
would lead them at once into a headlong charge. This 
would make the destruction of the regulars comparatively 
easy and lead to the demoralization of the whole detach- 
ment. A plan so well designed as this, and so skillfully 
executed, is not formed on the instant. Besides, it is not 
probable that the Little Turtle remained out of touch 
with the American army while it was in the immediate 
vicinity of the Indian towns. 

On November sixth, Governor St. Clair wrote to the 
secretary of war that the savages had received "a most 
terrible stroke.' It is true that they had suffered a con- 
siderable damage in the burning of their cabins and the 
destruction of their corn, but the total loss of warriors 
was only about fifteen or twenty. The American army, 
on the other hand, had lost one hundred and eighty-three 
in killed, and thirty-one wounded. Among the slain were 
Major Wyllys and Lieutenant Ebenezer Frothingham, of 
the regular troops, and Major Fontaine, Captains Thorp, 
McMurtrey and Scott, Lieutenants Clark and Rogers, and 
Ensigns Bridges, Sweet, Higgins and Thielkeld, of the 
militia. 

The outcome of the campaign," says B. J. Griswold, 
the Fort Wayne historian, "considered from the most 
favorable angle, gave naught to the American govern- 
ment to increase its hopes of the pacification of the west. 
On the other hand, the savages, their spirit of revenge 
aroused to the white heat of the fiercest hatred, assembled 



JOSIAH HARMAR 171 

at the site of their ruined villages, and there, led to re- 
newed defiance of the Americans through the fiery speech 
of Simon Girty, set about the work of preparation to 
meet the next American force which might be sent against 
them. In a body, these savages, led by Little Turtle, Le- 
Gris and Blue Jacket, proceeded to Detroit, where they 
"paraded the streets, uttering their demoniac scalp yelps 
while bearing long poles strung with the scalps of many 
American soldiers." 

Governor St. Clair expressed regret that a post had 
not been established; it would be the surest means of 
obliging the Indians to be at peace with the United States. 
On December second, 1790, Major John Hamtramck, writ- 
ing from Vincennes, gave it as his opinion that "nothing 
can establish peace with the Indians as long as the Brit- 
ish keep possession of the upper posts, for they are daily 
sowing the seed of discord betwixt the measures of our 
government and the Indians." He further summed up 
the situation as follows : "The Indians never can be sub- 
dued by just going to their towns and burning their 
houses and corn, and returning the next day, for it is no 
hardship for the Indians to live without ; they make them- 
selves perfectly comfortable on meat alone; and as for 
houses, they can build with as much facility as a bird 
does his nest." Speaking of this campaign and of its ef- 
fects on the Miamis, Roosevelt says that "the blow was 
only severe enough to anger and unite them, not to cripple 
or crush them. All the other western tribes made com- 
mon cause with them. They banded together and warred 
openly; and their vengeful forays on the frontier in- 



172 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

creased in number, so that the suffering of the settlers 
was great. Along the Ohio people lived in dread of tom- 
ahawk and scalping knife; the attacks fell unceasingly 
on all the settlements from Marietta to Louisville." 

The expedition of Hamtramck against the Kickapoo 
towns on the Vermilion river was a failure. He destroy- 
ed the Indian village at the site of the old Shelby farm, 
near Eugene, but the warriors being absent, he returned 
to Vincennes. Some local historian has written a blood- 
curdling description of the merciless massacre of old 
men, women and children by Hamtramck's army, but this 
tale is an injustice both to the worthy Major and the 
soldiers under him. The only truthful part of this sketch 
is that "the adjoining terrace lands were filled with thou- 
sands of the greatest varieties of plum bushes and grape 
vines and it was known as the great plum patch." Since 
General Harrison's march to Tippecanoe the crossing at 
this river has been known as "the Army Ford." 



CHAPTER XII 

SCOTT AND WILKINSON 

— The Kentucky raids on the Miami country along the 
Wabash in 1791. 

The effects of Harmar's campaign were soon appar- 
ent. In the closing months of 1790, the citizens of Ohio, 
Monongahela, Harrison, Randloph, Kanawha, Green- 
Briar, Montgomery, and Russel counties, in western Vir- 
ginia, sent an appeal for immediate aid to the governor 
of that state, stating that their frontier on a line of nearly 
four hundred miles along the Ohio, was continually ex- 
posed to Indian attack ; that the efforts of the government 
had hitherto been ineffectual; that the federal garrisons 
along the Ohio could afford them no protection ; that they 
had every reason to believe that the late defeat of the 
army at the hands of the Indians, would lead to an in- 
crease of the savage invasions ; that it was better for the 
government to support them where they were, no matter 
what the expense might be, than to compel them to quit 
the country after the expenditure of so much blood and 
treasure, when all were aware that a frontier must be 
supported somewhere. On the second of January, 1791, 
between "sunset and daylight-in," the Indians surprised 
the new settlements on the Muskingum, called the Big 
Bottom, forty miles above Marietta, killing eleven men, 
one woman, and two children. General Rufus Putnam, 

173 . 



174 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

writing to President Washington, on the eighth of the 
same month, said that the little garrison at Fort Harmar, 
consisting of a little over twenty men, could afford no 
protection to the settlements. That the whole number of 
effective men in the Muskingum country would not ex- 
ceed two hundred and eighty-seven, and that many of 
them were badly armed, and that unless the government 
speedily sent a body of troops for their protection, they 
were "a ruined people." Virginia, Pennsylvania and 
Kentucky, were all being sorely pressed by savage in- 
cursions. 

It was a fortunate circumstance for the future wel- 
fare of the great west, that George Washington was 
president of the United States. Great numbers of the 
people in the Atlantic states, according to Secretary of 
War Knox, were opposed to the further prosecution of 
the Indian war. They considered that the sacrifice of 
blood and treasure in such a conflict would far exceed 
any advantages that might possibly be reaped by it. The 
result of Harmar's campaign had been very dishearten- 
ing, and the government was in straitened circumstances, 
both as to men and means. But by strenuous efforts, 
President Washington induced Congress to pass an act, 
on the second day of March, 1791, for raising and adding 
another regiment to the military establishment of the 
United States,, "and for making further provision for 
the protection of the frontiers." Governor Arthur St. 
Clair was appointed as the new commander-in-chief of 
the army of the northwest, and Colonel Richard Butler, 
of Pennsylvania, was promoted and placed second in 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 175 

command. St. Clair was authorized to raise an army of 
three thousand men, but as there were only "two small 
regiments of regular infantry," the remainder of the 
force was to be raised by special levies of six months' 
men, and by requisitions of militia. In the meantime, the 
government, owing to the pressing demands of the west- 
ern people, had authorized the establishment of a local 
Board of War for the district of Kentucky. This Board 
was composed of Brigadier-General Charles Scott, leader 
of the Kentucky militia, Harry Innes, John Brown, Ben- 
jamin Logan and Isaac Shelby, and they were vested with 
discretionary powers "to provide for the defense of the 
settlements and the prosecution of the war." The govern- 
ment had now fully determined on a definite plan of 
action. First, a messenger was to be dispatched to the 
Wabash Indians with an offer of peace. This messenger 
was to be accompanied by the Cornplanter, of the Seneca 
Nation, and such other Iroquois chiefs as might be friend- 
ly to the United States. Second, in case this mission of 
peace should fail, expeditions were to be organized to 
strike the Wea, the Eel river and the Kickapoo towns, in 
order to prevent them from giving aid to the main Miami 
and Shawnee villages at the head of the Maumee. Third, 
a grand expedition under the command of St. Clair him- 
self, was to capture Kekionga, establish a military post 
there, and check the activities of both the Indians and 
British in the valleys of the Wabash and the Maumee. 
The instructions of the secretary of war to General St. 
Clair with reference to Kekionga were specific. "You will 
commence your march for the Miami village, in order to 



176 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

establish a strong and permanent military post at that 
place. In your advance, you will establish such posts of 
communication with Fort Washington, on the Ohio, as 
you may judge proper. The post at the Miami village is 
intended for the purpose of av/ing and curbing the In- 
dians in that quarter, and as the only preventive of future 
hostilities. It ought, therefore, to be rendered secure 
against all attempts and insults by the Indians. The gar- 
rison which should be stationed there ought not only to 
be sufficient for the defense of the place, but always to 
afford a detachment of five or six hundred men, either to 
chastise any of the Wabash, or other hostile Indians, or 
to secure any convoy of provisions. The establishment of 
such a post is considered as an important object of the 
campaign, and is to take place in all events." 

First as to the mission of peace. In December, 1790, 
the Cornplanter and other chiefs of the Seneca tribe, 
being in Philadelphia, "measures were taken to impress 
them with the moderation of the United States, as it re- 
spected the war with the western Indians; that the 
coercive measures against them had been the consequence 
of their refusal to listen to the invitations of peace, and 
a continuance of their depredations on the frontiers." 
The Cornplanter seemed to be favorably impressed. On 
the twelfth of March, Colonel Thomas Proctor, as the 
agent and representative of the United States govern- 
ment, was sent forward to the Seneca towns. His instruc- 
tions from the secretary of war were, to induce the Corn- 
planter and as many of the other chiefs of the Senecas 
as possible, to go with him as messengers of peace to the 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 177 

Miami and Wabash Indians. They were first to repair to 
Sandusky on Lake Erie, and there hold a conference with 
the Delaware and Wyandot tribes who were inclined to 
be friendly. Later they were to go directly to the Miami 
village at Kekionga, there to assemble the Miami con- 
federates, and induce them to go to Fort Washington at 
Cincinnati, and enter into a treaty of peace with General 
St. Clair. 

On the twenty-seventh of April, Proctor arrived at 
Buffalo Creek, six miles from Fort Erie, situated on the 
north side of the lake, and twenty-five miles distant from 
Fort Niagara on the south shore of Lake Ontario. Both 
posts were held by the British. Here he found the Far- 
mer's Brother, Red Jacket, and practically all of the Iro- 
quois chieftains under the influence of the British offi- 
cers. The Farmer's Brother, "was fully regimented as a 
colonel, red faced with blue, as belonging to some royal 
regiment, and equipped with a pair of the best epaulets." 
The Indians had practically given up hunting and were 
being directly fed and supported out of the English store- 
houses. From the very beginning, Red Jacket and the 
Farmer's Brother questioned his credentials. Proctor 
learned from a French trader, that about seven days prior 
to his arrival, Colonel Butler of the British Indian de- 
partment and Joseph Brant had been in the village. They 
had told the Senecas to pay no attention to Proctor's talk, 
and to give him no aid in going to the Miamis, for they 
would all be killed. 

In two or three days Proctor succeeded in getting 
the Indians into a council. He argued that it was the duty 



178 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of all men, red or white, to warn the Miamis to discon- 
tinue their thefts and murders, before a decisive blow 
should be "levelled at them" by the United States. The 
lives of hundreds of their fellow men might thus be saved. 
He invited them to bring forward any gentleman of 
veracity to examine his papers, or to hear his speeches. 
In answer to this, Red Jacket proposed that the council 
fire be removed to Fort Niagara, so that all proceedings 
might take place under the eyes of the British counsellors. 
Proctor would not assent to this course, but indicated that 
he had no objection to the British officers being present. 
They were accordingly sent for, but in the meantime the 
Farmer's Brother and other British adherents were tell- 
ing the Indians that Proctor proposed taking them to the 
"verge of the ocean" and that the treaty grounds were 
twelve months' journey away. 

Shortly afterwards Colonel Butler with a staff of 
British army officers came into camp. Butler was bold, 
and told the Indians in Proctor's presence that Colonel 
Joseph Brant, of Grand River, and Alexander McKee, the 
British agent of Indian affairs at Detroit, were now pre- 
paring to go among the Indians at war with the Amer- 
icans, "to know what their intentions were, whether for 
war or for peace ;" that nothing must be done until their 
return, for should any embassy be undertaken, this would 
certainly bring down the wrath of war upon themselves, 
and result in the death of all, for the Miamis were angry 
with them already. 

A strange event now happened. The Iroquois women 
suddenly appeared in the Indian councils and seconded 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 179 

the pleas of the American peace commissioner. Seated 
with the Indian chiefs, they easily swung the scales, and 
carried the day. Red Jacket and other chiefs and war- 
riors were appointed to accompany Proctor to the west. 
But the English now played their final trump card. On 
the fifth of May, Proctor had written to Colonel Gordon, 
the British commandant at Niagara, to obtain permission 
to freight one of the schooners on Lake Erie, to transport 
the American envoy and such Indian chiefs as might ac- 
company him, to Sandusky. He now received a cold and 
insolent answer that at once blasted all his hopes. Gor- 
don refused to regard Proctor "in any other light than a 
private agent," and peremptorily refused to let him char- 
ter any of the craft upon the lake. This made the con- 
templated mission impossible. 

Let us now see what Alexander McKee and Joseph 
Brant were doing in the west. Shortly before Proctor's 
arrival at Buffalo Creek, Brant had received private in- 
structions from British headquarters to set out for the 
Grand River, and to go from thence to Detroit. It ap- 
pears that shortly after Harmar's defeat, the confederated 
nations of the Chippewas, Potawatomi, Hurons, Shaw- 
nees, Delawares, Ottawas, and Miamis, together with the 
Mohawks, had sent a deputation of their chiefs to the 
headquarters of Lord Dorchester at Quebec, to sound him 
on the proposition as to what aid or assistance they might 
expect in the event of a continuance of the war. They 
also demanded to know whether the British had, by the 
treaty of peace, given away any of their lands to the 
Americans. Dorchester, while hostile to the new republic. 



180 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and firmly resolved to hold the posts, was not ready as 
yet to come out in the open. He informed the tribes that 
the line marked out in the treaty of peace, "implied no 
more than that beyond that line the King, their father, 
would not extend his interference;" that the king only 
retained possession of the posts until such time as all the 
differences between him and the United States should be 
settled; that in making peace, the king had not given 
away any of their lands, "inasmuch as the King never 
had any right to their lands, other than to such as had 
been fairly ceded by themselves, with their own free 
consent, by public convention and sale. * * * * in 
conclusion, he assured the deputation, that although the 
Indians had their friendship and good will, the Provincial 
Government had no power to embark in a war with the 
United States, and could only defend themselves if at- 
tacked." 

In strange contradiction to the Canadian governor's 
words, Alexander McKee came to the Rapids of the Miami 
in the month of April to hold a council with the Wabash 
confederates. Thither came Brant, summoned from Buf- 
falo Creek. McKee waited three months for the gath- 
ering of the tribes, but about July first they were all 
assembled. "Not only the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyan- 
dots, Ottawas, Potawatomis and others," says Roosevelt, 
"who had openly taken the hatchet against the Americans, 
but also representatives of the Six Nations, and tribes of 
savages from lands so remote that they carried no guns ; 
but warred with bows, spears, and tomahawks, and were 
clad in buffalo-robes instead of blankets. McKee in his 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 181 

speech to them did not incite them to war. On the con- 
trary, he advised them, in guarded language, to make 
peace with the United States; but only upon terms con- 
sistent with their "honor and interest." He assured 
them that, whatever they did, he wished to know what 
they desired ; and that the sole purpose of the British was 
to promote the welfare of the confederated Indians. Such 
very cautious advice was not of a kind to promote peace ; 
and the goods furnished the savages at the council in- 
cluded not only cattle, corn and tobacco, but also quan- 
tities of powder and balls." England was determined that 
the Miami chieftains should command the valleys of the 
Wabash and the Maumee, and while breathing forth ac- 
cents to deceive the credulous, were arming the red men 
with the instruments of war. 

On the sixteenth of May, the American prisoner, 
Thomas Rhea, captured by a party of Delawares and 
"Munsees" arrives at Sandusky. An Indian captain is 
there with one hundred and fifty warriors. Parties are 
coming in daily with prisoners and scalps. Alarm comes 
in on the twenty-fourth of May that a large body of Amer- 
ican troops in three columns are moving towards the 
Miami towns. The Indians burn their houses and move 
to Roche de Bout, on the Maumee. Here are Colonels 
Joseph Brant and Alexander McKee, with Captains Bun- 
bury and Silvie, of the British troops. They are living in 
clever cabins built by the Potawatomi and other Indians, 
eighteen miles above Lake Erie. They have great stores 
of corn, pork, peas and other provisions, which, together 
with arms and ammunition, they are daily issuing to the 



182 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Indians. Savages are coming in in parties of one, two, 
three, four and five hundred at a time, and receiving sup- 
plies from McKee, and going up the Maumee to the Miami 
villages. Pirogues, loaded with the munitions of war 
are being rowed up the same stream by French-Cana- 
dians. They are preparing for an American attack. 

Rhea hears some things. While he is on the Maumee 
he tells Colonel McKee and other British officers that he 
has seen Colonel Thomas Proctor on his way to the 
Senecas and has talked with him. That Proctor told him 
he was on his way to Sandusky and the Miami villages, 
and that he expected the Cornplanter to accompany him 
and bring about peace; that he (Proctor), expected to get 
shipping at Fort Erie. The British officers who hear 
these things, say that if they were at Lake Erie, Proctor 
would get no shipping. The Mohawks and other Indians 
declare that if Proctor, or any other Yankee messenger, 
arrives, he will not carry back any message. Simon 
Girty and one Pat Hill assert, that Proctor should never 
return, even if he had a hundred Senecas with him. 

On the ninth of March, 1791, the secretary of war 
issued orders to General Charles Scott of Kentucky, to 
lead an expedition against the Wea or Ouiatenon towns on 
the Wabash. The expedition was not to proceed until the 
tenth day of May, as hopes were entertained that Proc- 
tor might negotiate a peace. The force to be employed 
was to consist of seven hundred and fifty mounted volun- 
teers, including officers. All Indians who ceased to resist 
were to be spared. Women and children, and as many 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 183 

warriors as possible, were to be taken prisoners, but 
treated with humanity. 

The tenth day of May arrived, but Proctor was not 
heard from. The hostility of the savages was daily in- 
creasing. Scott was delayed a few days longer in the 
hope that intelligence might arrive, but on the twenty- 
third of May he crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the 
Kentucky and plunged into the wilderness. Before him 
lay one hundred and fifty-five miles of forest, swamp 
and stream. The rain fell in torrents and every river 
was beyond its banks. His horses were soon worn down 
and his provisions spoiled, but he pressed on. On the 
morning of the first of June, he was entering the prairies 
south of the Wea plain and approaching the hills of High 
Gap. He now saw a lone Indian horseman to his right 
and tried to intercept him, but failed. He pushed on 
rapidly to the Indian towns. 

On the morning of June first, 1791, the landscape of 
the Wea is a thing of beauty. To the north lies the long 
range of the Indian Hills, crowned with forest trees, and 
scarped with many a sharp ravine. At the southern edge 
of these hills flows the Wabash, winding in and out with 
graceful curves, and marked in its courses by a narrow 
fringe of woodland. To the east lies Wea creek, jutting 
out into the plain with a sharp turn, and then gliding on 
again to the river. Within this enclosure of wood and 
stream lie the meadows of the Ouiatenons, dotted here and 
there with pleasant groves, and filled with the aroma of 
countless blossoms. 



184 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

"Awake from dreams! The scene changes. The 
morning breath of the first day of summer has kissed the 
grass and flowers, but it brings no evil omen to the Kick- 
apoo villages on this shore, nor to the five Wea towns on 
the adjacent plain. High noon has come, but still birds 
and grass and flowers bask in the meridian splendor of a 
June sunshine, unconscious of danger or the trampling of 
hostile feet. One o'clock! And over High Gap hostile 
horsemen are galloping. They separate; one division 
wheels to the left led by the relentless Colonel Hardin, 
still smarting from the defeat of the last year by the great 
Miami, Little Turtle. But the main division, led by the 
noble Colonel Scott, afterward the distinguished soldier 
and governor of Kentucky, moves straight forward on 
to Ouiatenon." 

Scott's advance since the morning has been swift and 
steady. He fears that the Indian horseman will give the 
alarm. At one o'clock he comes over High Gap, a high 
pass through the hills to the southwest of the present 
town of Shadeland. To the left he perceives two Indian 
villages. One is at a distance of two miles and the other 
at four. They were probably situated in the prairie 
groves. He now detaches Colonel John Hardin with sixty 
mounted infantry and a troop of light horse under Cap- 
tain McCoy, and they swing to the left. Scott moves 
briskly forward with the main body for the villages of 
the Weas, at the mouth of Wea creek. The smoke of the 
camp fires is plainly discernible. 

As he turns the point of timber fringing the Wea, 
and in the vicinity of what is now the Shadeland Farm, 




Drawing by Heaton 
Map Showing the Wea Plains and the Line of Scott's March, Tippe- 
canoe County, Indiana. 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 185 

he sees a cabin to the right. Captain Price is ordered to 
assault it with forty men. Two warriors are killed. 
Scott now gains the summit of the eminence crowning 
the south bank of the Wabash. The Wea villages are be- 
low him and scattered along the river. All is in confu- 
sion and the Indians are trying to escape. On the opposite 
shore is a town of the Kickapoos. He instantly orders his 
lieutenant-commandant, James Wilkinson, to charge the 
Weas with the first battalion, and the eager Kentuckians 
rush to the river's edge, just as the last of five canoes 
loaded with warriors, has pushed from the shore. With 
deadly and terrible aim the riflemen empty the boats to 
the last man. 

In the meantime, a brisk fire has been kept up from 
the Kickapoo camp. Scott now determines to cross the 
river and capture the town, but the recent rains have 
swelled the stream and he cannot ford it. He orders 
Wilkinson to cross at a ford two miles above, and detaches 
King's and Logsdon's companies, under conduct of Major 
Barbee, to cross the river below. Wilkinson fails, for the 
river is swift and very high. Barbee is more successful. 
Many of the hardy frontiersmen breast the stream, and 
others pass in a small canoe. But the instant the Ken- 
tuckians foot the opposite shore the Indian? discover 
them and flee. 

About this time Scott hears from Colonel Hardin. 
The redoubtable old Indian fighter who was saved to die 
in the service of his country, has pushed on and captured 
the two villages observed from High Gap, and is encum- 
bered with many prisoners. He now discovers a stronger 



186 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

village farther to the left, and proceeds to attack. This 
latter village is probably in the neighborhood of the pres- 
ent site of Granville, and opposite the point where the 
Riviere De Bois Rouge, or Indian creek, enters the Wa- 
bash. Scott at once detaches Captain Brown and his com- 
pany to support the Colonel, but nothing can stop the 
impetuous Kentuckian, and before Brown arrives, "the 
business is done," and Hardin joins the main body be- 
fore sunset , having killed six warriors and taken fifty- 
two prisoners. "Captain Bull," says Scott, "the warrior 
who discovered me in the morning, had gained the main 
town, and given the alarm a short time before me; but 
the villages to my left were uninformed of my approach, 
and had no retreat." 

The first day of fighting had been very encouraging. 
The next morning Scott determined to destroy Kethtipe- 
canunck, or Tippecanoe, eighteen miles up the river. His 
knowledge of geography was poor, for he talks about 
Kethtipecanunck being at the mouth of the Eel river, but 
his fighting qualities were perfect. On examination, how- 
ever, he discovers that his men and horses are greatly 
worn down and crippled by the long march and the fight- 
ing of the day before. Three hundred and sixty men are 
at last selected to make the march on foot. At half after 
five in the evening they start out under the command of 
lieutenant-commandant Wilkinson and at one o'clock the 
next day they have returned, having completely burned 
and destroyed what Scott denominated as "the most im- 
portant settlement of the enemy in that quarter of the 
federal territory." Wilkinson's detachment had reached 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 187 

the village near daybreak. The advance columns of the 
Kentuckians charged impetuously into the town just as the 
Indians were crossing the Wabash, and a brief skirmish 
ensued from the opposite shores, during which several 
Indian warriors were killed and two Americans wounded. 
Many of the inhabitants of Kethtipecanunck were French 
traders and lived in a state of semi-civilization. "By the 
books, letters, and other documents found there," says 
Scott, "it is evident that place was in close connection 
with, and dependent upon, Detroit; A large quantity of 
corn, a variety of household goods, peltry, and other ar- 
ticles, were burned with this village, which consisted of 
about seventy houses, many of them well furnished." 
Scott lamented that the condition of his troops prevented 
him from sweeping to the head of the Wabash. He says 
he had the kind of men to do it, but he lacked fresh 
horses and provisions and was forced to return to Ken- 
tucky. On the fourth of June, he released sixteen of the 
weakest and most infirm of his prisoners and gave them 
a written address of peace to the Wabash tribes. It was 
written in a firm, manly tone, but without grandiloquence. 
He now destroyed the villages at Ouiatenon, the growing 
corn and pulse, and on the same day of the fourth, set 
out for Kentucky. The grand old man, who was to fight 
with Wayne at Fallen Timbers, had done well. Without 
the loss of a single man, and having only five wounded, 
he had killed thirty-two warriors "of size and figure," 
and taken fifty-eight prisoners. He took a receipt from 
Captain Joseph Asheton of the First United States Regi- 
ment at Fort Steuben, for forty-one prisoners. 



188 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

On the twenty-fifth of June, governor St. Clair wrote 
to the Kentucky Board of War to send a second expedition 
against the Wabash towns. On the fifth day of July the 
Board appointed James Wilkinson as the commander. The 
troops were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington, 
by the twentieth of July, "well mounted on horseback, 
well armed, and provided with thirty days' provisions." In 
certain instructions from Governor St. Clair to General 
Wilkinson, of date July thirty-first, Wilkinson's attention 
is called to a Kickapoo town "in the prairie, northward 
and westward of L'Anguille," about sixty miles. This 
town will be mentioned later. Wilkinson was directed 
also to restrain his command from "scalping the dead." 
With a Kentuckian, the onjy good Indian was a dead one. 

On the first day of August, Wilkinson rode out of 
Cincinnati with five hundred and twenty-five men. His 
destined point of attack was the Eel river towns, about 
six miles above the present city of Logansport. The coun- 
try he had to pass through was mostly unknown, full of 
quagmires and marshes, and extremely hard on his horses. 
He made a feint for the Miami village at Kekionga, but on 
the morning of the fourth, he turned directly northwest 
and headed for Kenapacomaqua, or L'Anguille, as the Eel 
river towns were known. After some brief skirmishes 
with small parties of warriors and much plunging and 
sinking in the bogs, he crossed the Wabash about four 
and one half miles above the mouth of the Eel river, and 
striking an Indian path, was soon in front of the Indian 
towns. He now dismounted and planned an attack. The 
second battalion was to cross the river, detour, and come 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 189 

in on the rear of the villages. The first battalion was 
to lie perdue until the maneuver was executed, when a 
simultaneous charge was to be made on all quarters of 
the town. Before the plan could be executed, however, 
the troops were discovered, whereupon an instant charge 
was made by plunging into the river and attacking the 
town on the front. Six warriors were killed, "and in 
the hurry and confusion of the charge, two squaws and 
a child." 

Wilkinson found the towns of the Eel river tribes scat- 
tered along Eel river for a distance of three miles. These 
villages were separated by almost impassable bogs, and 
"impervious thickets of plum, hazel and black-jack." The 
head chief of the tribe, with his prisoners and a number 
of families were out digging a root, which the Indians 
substituted for the potato. A short time before Wilkin- 
son arrived, most of the warriors had gone up the river 
to a French store to purchase ammunition. This ammuni- 
tion had come from Kekionga on the same day. Several 
acres of green corn with the ears in the milk were about 
the town. All of this was destroyed. Thirty-four pris- 
oners were taken and a captive released. 

After encamping in the town for the night, Wilkin- 
son started the next morning for the Kickapoo town "in 
the prairie." He considered his position as one of danger, 
for he says he was in the "bosom of the Ouiatenon coun- 
try," one hundred and eighty miles from succor, and not 
more than one and a half days' forced march from the 
Potawatomi, Shawnees and Delawares. This was, of 
course, largely matter of conjecture. 



190 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

The Kickapoo town that Wilkinson was headed for 
was in fact about sixty miles from Kenapacomaqua and 
in the prairie. But it was south and west of the Eel river 
villages instead of north and west. The imperfect geo- 
graphical knowledge of the times led Wilkinson to believe 
it was on the Illinois river, but it was in fact on Big Pine 
creek, near the present town of Oxford, in Benton County, 
Indiana. Wilkinson was right in one regard, however, 
for he knew that the village he sought was on the great 
Potawatomi trail leading south from Lake Michigan. 
This trail passed down from the neighborhood of what 
is now Blue Island, in Chicago, south through Momence 
and Iroquois, Illinois, south and east again through 
Parish Grove, in Benton County, across Big Pine Creek 
and on to Ouiatenon and Kethtipecanunck, or Tippecanoe. 
It was a great fur trading route and of great commercial 
importance in that day. This Kickapoo village "in the 
prairie," was about twenty miles west of the present 
city of Lafayette, and about two and one-half miles from 
the present site of Oxford, at a place known in later years 
as "Indian Hill." It was well known to Gurdon S. Hub- 
bard, who visited it in the early part of the last century 
and had an interesting talk with the Kickapoos there 
about the battle of Tippecanoe. Jesse S. Birch, of Oxford, 
an accurate local historian, has preserved an interesting 
account of this village as seen by the early settlers in the 
years from 1830 to 1840. The Kickapoos had, at that 
time, moved on to other places, but bands of the Pota- 
watomi were still on the ground. "Pits," says Birch, 
"in which the Indians stored their corn, were to be seen 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 191 

until a few years ago. The burying grounds were about 
half a mile northwest of the village and only a short dis- 
tance west of the Stembel gravel pit. The Potawatomi 
were peaceful. John Wattles, who describes their winter 
habitations, visited them often in his boyhood days. Pits, 
the sides of which were lined with furs, were dug four 
or five feet deep, and their tents, with holes at the top 
to permit the escape of smoke, were put over them. By 
keeping a fire on the ground in the center of the pit, they 
lived in comparative comfort, so far as heat and Indian 
luxuries were concerned, during the coldest weather. 
There are evidences of white men having camped near 
this village. Isaac W. Lewis found an English sovereign 
while at play on his father's farm, but a short distance 
from the site of the village. In the early 30's, his 
father and eldest brother, while plowing, found several 
pieces of English money." The glittering coins of "the 
great father," had easily found their way into savage 
hands. 

But Wilkinson was not destined to strike this main 
Kickapoo town. He encamped the first night six miles 
from Kenapacomaqua, and the next day he marched west 
and then northwest passing between what are now the 
points of Royal Center and Logansport, and "launched 
into the boundless prairies of the west with the intention 
to pursue that course until I could strike a road which 
leads from the Potawatomi of Lake Michigan immedi- 
ately to the town I sought." Here for eight hours he 
floundered about in an endless succession of sloughs and 
swamps, wearing out his horses and exhausting his men. 



192 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

"A chain of thin groves extending in the direction of the 
Wabash at this time presented to my left." Wilkinson 
now extricated himself from the swamps and gained the 
Tippecanoe trail, and camped at seven o'clock in the even- 
ing. He had marched a distance of about thirty miles, 
and several of his horses were completely broken down. 

At four o'clock the next morning this little army 
was in motion again. At eight o'clock signs were dis- 
covered of the proximity of an Indian town. At twelve 
o'clock noon, he entered Kethtipecanunck, but the savages 
had fled at his approach. They had returned since the 
expedition of June and cultivated their corn and pulse. 
These were in a flourishing condition. Having refreshed 
his horses and cut down the corn, he resumed his march 
for the Kickapoo town "in the prairie, by the road which 
leads from Ouiatenon to that place." After proceeding 
some distance he discovered some "murmurings" among 
the Kentuckians, and found on examination that two 
hundred and seventy of his horses were lame, and that 
only five days' provisions were left for his men. Under 
these circumstances, he abandoned the contemplated as- 
sault on the main Kickapoo town, and "marched forward 
to a town of the same nation, situated about three leagues 
west of Ouiatenon." He destroyed the town of thirty 
houses and "a considerable quantity of corn in the hills," 
and the same day moved on to Ouiatenon, forded the Wa- 
bash, and encamped on the margin of the Wea plains. 
At all the villages destroyed by Scott he found the corn- 
re-planted and in a state of high cultivation. He destroyed 
it all, and on the twelfth of August he fell in with General 



SCOTT AND WILKINSON 193 

Scott's return trace and marched to the Ohio, where he 
arrived on the twenty-first day of the month. He had 
traveled a distance of four hundred and fifty-one miles in 
twenty-one days ; a feat of horsemanship, considering the 
wild and difficult nature of the country, of no small de- 
gree of merit. 

The expedition had in all things been a success. He 
had captured a number of prisoners, cut down four hun- 
dred and thirty acres of corn in the milk, and destroyed 
at least two Indian towns. 

Some of the historians who have commented on these 
campaigns of Scott and Wilkinson and the Kentucky 
militia, have sought to minimize and even to discredit 
these expeditions. Says Albach: "The expeditions of 
Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson were directed against the 
Miamis and Shawnees, and served only to exasperate 
them. The burning of their towns, the destruction of 
their corn, and the captivity of their women and children, 
only aroused them to more desperate efforts to defend 
their country, and to harass their invaders." The review 
of Secretary of War Knox, communicated to President 
Washington on the twenty-sixth of December, 1791, how- 
ever, contains the following: "The effect of such desultory 
operations upon the Indians, will, by occupying them for 
their own safety and that of their families, prevent them 
spreading terror and destruction along the frontiers. 
These sort of expeditions had that precise effect during 
the last season, and Kentucky enjoyed more repose and 
sustained less injury, than for any year since the war 
with Great Britain. This single effect, independent of the 



194 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

injury done to the force of the Indians, is worth greatly 
more than the actual expense of such expeditions." 

Other effects produced were equally important. The 
brave Kentuckians, for the first time, were acting in con- 
junction with, and under the direction and control of the 
federal authorities. The cement of a common interest, 
as Washington would say, was binding state and nation 
together. Not only were the soil and the long suffering 
people of Kentucky rendered more secure against Indian 
attack, but the hardy descendants of the pioneers were 
being trained for the eventful conflict of 1812, when seven 
thousand of the valorous sons of that commonwealth 
should take the field in the defense of their country. 



CHAPTER XIII 

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 

— The first great disaster to the Federal armies brought 
about by the Miamis. 

The objectives of General St. Clair have already been 
mentioned. He was now to take the village of Kekionga, 
establish a garrison there, and erect a chain of posts 
stretching from the new establishment to Fort Wash- 
ington at Cincinnati. 

The army with which St. Clair was expected to ac- 
complish this task consisted of "two small regiments of 
regulars, two of six months' levies, a number of Kentucky 
militia, a few cavalry, and a couple of small batteries of 
light guns." In all there were fourteen hundred men 
and eighty-six officers. The Kentucky militia were under 
the command of Colonel Oldham, a brave officer who 
afterwards fell on the field of battle. The levies were 
"men collected from the streets and prisons of the city, 
hurried out into the enemy's country and with the officers 
commanding them, totally unacquainted with the busi- 
ness in which they were engaged." Their pay was miser- 
able. Each private received two dollars and ten cents a 
month ; the sergeants three dollars and sixty cents. Being 
recruited at various times and places, their terms of en- 
listment were expiring daily, and they wanted to go home. 
As they were recldess and intemperate, St. Clair, in order 

195 



196 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

to preserve some semblance of order, removed them to 
Ludlow's Station, about six miles from Fort Washin^on. 
Major Ebenezer Denny, aide to St. Clair, says that they 
were "far inferior to the militia." On the morning of 
October twenty-ninth, when St. Clair's army was pene- 
trating the heart of the Indian country, this disorderly 
element was keeping up a constant firing about the camp, 
contrary to the positive orders of the day. 

In the quartermaster's department everything "went 
on slowly and badly; tents, pack-saddles, kettles, knap- 
sacks and cartridge boxes, were all 'deficient in quantity 
and quality." The army contractors were positively dis- 
honest, and the war department seems to have been fear- 
fully negligent in all of its work. Judge Jacob Burnet 
records that "it is a well authenticated fact, that boxes 
and packages were so carelessly put up and marked, that 
during the action a box was opened marked "flints," which 
was found to contain gun-locks. Several mistakes of the 
same character were discovered, as for example, a keg of 
powder marked "for the infantry,' was found to contain 
damaged cannon-powder, that could scarcely be ignited." 

St. Clair was sick, and so afflicted with the gout that 
he was unable to mount or dismount a horse without 
assistance. On the night before his great disaster he was 
confined to his camp bed and unable to get up. Born in 
Edinburgh, in Scotland, in 1734, he was now fi.fty-seven 
years of age, and too old and infirm to take command of 
an army in a hazardous Indian campaign. Besides, he 
had had no experience in such a contest. He was, how- 
ever, a man of sterling courage. He had been a lieutenant 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 197 

in the army of General Wolfe at Quebec. He espoused 
the cause of the colonies, and had fought with distin- 
guished valor at Trenton and Princeton. Under him, and 
second in command, was General Richard Butler, of Penn- 
sylvania. Butler was a man of jealous and irritable 
temperament and had had a bitter controversy with Har- 
mar over the campaign of the year before. A coolness 
now sprang up between him and St. Clair, which, as we 
shall see, led to lamentable results. The mind of General 
Harmar was filled with gloomy forebodings. Taking into 
consideration the material of which the army was com- 
posed and the total inefficiency of the quartermaster and 
the contractors, "it was a matter of astonishment to him," 
says Denny, "that the commanding general * * * * 
should think of hazarding, with such people, and under 
such circumstances, his reputation and life, and the lives 
of so many others, knowing, too, as both did, the enemy 
with whom he was going to contend ; an enemy brought 
up from infancy to war, and perhaps superior to an equal 
number of the best men that could be taken against them." 

Oiwing to delays the army which was to rendezvous 
at Fort Washington not later than July tenth, did not 
actually start into the wilderness until the fourth day of 
October. On the seventeenth of September, a halt had 
been made on the Great Miami, and Fort Hamilton 
erected. Twenty miles north of this place, a light fortifica- 
tion known as Fort St. Clair, was built. About six miles 
south of the present town of Greenville, in Darke county, 
Ohio, the army threw up the works of Fort Jefferson, and 
then moved forward at a snail's pace into the forests and 



198 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

prairies. Every foot of the road through the heavy tim- 
ber had to be cleared. Rains were constant. The troops 
were on half rations and terribly impatient. Parties of 
militia were daily deserting. On the twenty-seventh of 
October, Major Denny entered in his diary the following: 
"The season so far advanced it will be impracticable to 
continue the campaign. Forage entirely destroyed; 
horses failing and cannot be kept up; provisions from 
hand to mouth." The Little Turtle was again on the 
watch. A hostile army was entering the sacred domain 
of the Miamis. Indian scouts and runners were constant- 
ly lurking on the skirts of the army. In after years, a 
woman heard the great chief say of a fallen enemy : "We 
met; I cut him down; and his shade as it passes on the 
wind, shuns my walk!' This terrible foe, like a tiger in 
his jungle, was waiting for the moment to spring on his 
prey. It soon came. On the thirty-first of October, a 
party of militia, sixty or seventy in number, deserted the 
camp and swore that they would stop the packhorses 
in the rear, laden with provisions. St. Clair sent back 
after them the First United States Regiment under Major 
John Hamtramck, the most experienced Indian fighters in 
the whole army. These were the men the Indians most 
feared. The savage chieftain determined to strike. 

Later than usual, and on the evening of November 
third, the tired and hungry army of St. Clair emerged on 
the headwaters of the river Wabash. "There was a small, 
elevated meadow on the east banks of this stream, while 
a dense forest spread gloomily all around." A light snow 
was on the ground, and the pools of water were covered 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 199 

with a thin coat of ice. The Wabash at this point was 
twenty yards wide. The militia were thrown across the 
stream about three hundred yards in advance of the main 
army. As they took their positions, a few Indians were 
routed out of the underbrush and fled precipitately into 
the woods. The main body of troops was cooped up in 
close quarters. The right wing was composed of Butler's, 
Clark's, and Patterson's battalions, commanded by Major 
General Butler. These battalions formed the first line of 
the encampment. The left wing, consisting of Bedinger's 
and Gaither's battalions, and the Second United States 
Regiment of regulars, under the command of Colonel 
William Darke, formed the second line. An interval be- 
tween these lines of about seventy yards "was all the 
ground would allow." St. Clair thought that his right 
flank was fairly well secured by a creek, "while a steep 
bank, and Faulkner's corps, some of the cavalry, and 
their picquets, covered the left flank." No works what- 
ever were thrown up to protect the army, but the great 
camp-fires of the soldiers illumined the whole host. In 
the circumjacent forests, and a little in advance of the 
position occupied by the militia, was a camp of over 
eleven hundred Indians, composed of Miamis, Shawnees, 
Potawatomi, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas and Wyan- 
dots, with a number of British adherents from Detroit, 
waiting for the first hours of dawn of the coming day. 

What strange sense of security lulled the vigilance 
of the American leaders will never be known. During the 
night the frequent firing of the sentinels disturbed the 
whole camp, and the outlying guards reported bands of 



200 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

savages skulking about in considerable numbers. "About 
ten o'clock at night," says Major Denny, "General But- 
ler, who commanded the right wing, was desired to send 
out an intelligent officer and party to make discoveries. 
Captain Slough, with two subalterns and thirty men, I 
saw parade at General Butler's tent for this purpose, and 
heard the general give Captain Slough very particular 
verbal orders how to proceed." Slough afterwards testi- 
fied before a committee of Congress, that he was sent out 
during the night with a party of observation and that he 
saw a force of Indians approaching the American camp, 
with a view to reconnoitering it, whereupon, he hastened 
to the camp of the militia and reported to their leader. 
"I halted my party," says Slough, "near Colonel Old- 
ham's tent, went into it, and awakened him, I believe 
about twelve o'clock. I told him that I was of his opinion, 
that the camp would be attacked in the morning, for I 
had seen a number of Indians. I proceeded to the camp, 
and as soon as I had passed the camp guards, dismissed 
the party, and went to General Butler's tent. As I ap- 
proached it, I saw him come out of the tent, and stand 
by the fire. I went up to him, and took him some distance 
from it, not thinking it prudent that the sentry should 
hear what I had seen. I also told him what Colonel Old- 
ham had said, and that, if he thought proper, I would 
go and make a report to General St. Clair. He stood 
some time, and after a pause, thanked me for my atten- 
tion and vigilance, and said, as I must be fatigued, I had 
better go and lie down." Fatuous and unexplainable con- 
duct in the face of certain peril ! 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 201 

At a half hour before sunrise on the morning of No- 
vember fourth, 1791, the army of St. Clair is at parade. 
The soldiers have just been dismissed and are returning- 
to their tents, when the woods in front ring with the shots 
and yells of a thousand savages. On the instant the 
bugles sound the call to arms, but the front battalions 
are scarce in line, when the remnants of the militia, torn 
and bleeding, burst through them. The levies, firing, 
check the first mad rush of the oncoming warriors, but 
the Indians scattering to right and left, encircle the camp. 
The guards are down, the army in confusion, and under 
the pall of smoke which now settles down to within three 
feet of the ground, the murderous red men approach the 
lines. The yelling has now ceased, but from behind every 
tree, log and stump a pitiless fire rains on the troops. 
The officers shout, the men discharge their guns, but they 
see nothing. The artillery thunders with tremendous 
sound, but soldiers are falling on every hand. 

St. Clair is valorus, but what can valor do in a 
tempest of death? He tries to mount a horse, but the 
horse is shot through the head, and the lad that holds him 
is wounded in the arm. He tries to mount a second, but 
horse and servant are both mowed down. The third 
horse is brought, but fearing disaster, St. Clair hobbles to 
the front lines to cheer his troops. He wears no uniform, 
and out from under his great three cornered hat flows 
his long gray hair. A ball grazes the side of his face and 
cuts away a lock. The weight of the savage fire is now 
falling on the artillery in the center. The gunners sink 
beueath their guns. The herculean lieutenant-colonel. 



202 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

William Darke, who has fought at Yorktown, is ordered 
to charge on the right front. The troops rush forward 
with levelled bayonets, the savages are routed from their 
coverts, are visible a moment, and then disappear. As 
the levies advance the savages close in behind. Darke is 
surrounded on all sides — his three hundred men become 
thirty, and he falls back. 

In the absence of Darke, the left flank of the army 
is now pressed in. Guns and artillery fall into the hands 
of the foe. Every artillery-man is killed but one, and he 
is badly wounded. The gunners are being scalped. St. 
Clair leads another charge on foot. The savages skip 
before the steel, disappear in the smoke and underbrush, 
and fire on the soldiers from every point as they make 
retreat. Charge after charge is made, but all are fruit- 
less. The regulars and the levies, out in the open, unable 
to see the enemy, die by scores. The carnage is fearful. 

The troops have fought for about three hours, and 
the remnants of the army are huddled in the center. The 
officers are about all down, for the savages have made it a 
point to single them out. Butler is fatally wounded and 
leaning against a tree. The men are stupefied and give 
up in despair. Shouts of command are given, officers' 
pistols are drawn, but the men refuse to fight. The 
wounded are lying in heaps, and the cross-fire of the In- 
dians, now centering from all points, threatens utter ex- 
termination. There is only one hope left — a desperate 
dash through the savage lines, and escape. "It was past 
nine o'clock," says Denny, "when repeated orders were 
given to charge towards the road. * * * Both officers 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 203 

and men seemed confounded, incapable of doing any- 
thing ; they could not move until it was told that a retreat 
was intended. A few officers put themselves in front, the 
men followed, the enemy gave way, and perhaps not being 
aware of the design, we were for a few moments left un- 
disturbed." 

In after years it was learned that Captain William 
Wells was in charge of a party of about three hundred 
young Indian warriors, who were posted behind logs and 
trees, immediately under the knoll on which the artillery 
stood. They picked off the artillery-men one by one, until 
a huge pile of corpses lay about the gun wheels. As the 
Indians swarmed into the camp in the intervals between 
the futile charges of the regulars, the artillery-men were 
all scalped. Wells belonged to a Kentucky family and had 
been captured by the Miamis when a child twelve years 
of age, and is said to have become the adopted son of 
Little Turtle. He had acquired the tongue and habits of 
a savage, but after the battle with St. Clair he seems to 
have been greatly troubled with the thought that he might 
have slain some of his own kindred. Afterwards when 
Wayne's army advanced into the Indian country he bade 
the Little Turtle goodbye, and became one of Wayne's 
most trusty and valuable scouts. After Fallen Timbers 
he returned to his Indian wife and children, but remained 
the friend of the United States. In General Harrison's 
day he was United States Indian agent at Fort Wayne, 
but was killed in the massacre of Fort Dearborn, in 1812, 
by the faithless bands of Potawatomi under the chief 
Blackbird. 



204 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

The retreat of St. Clair's army was very precipitate. 
"It was, in fact, a flight." The fugitives threw away their' 
arms and accoutrements and made a mad race for the 
walls of Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles away, arriving 
there a little after sunset. The loss of the Americans was 
appalling, and recalled the disaster of Braddock's defeat 
on the Monongahela. Out of an army of twelve hundred 
men and eighty-six officers, Braddock lost seven hundred 
and twenty-seven in killed and wounded. St. Clair's army 
consisted of fourteen hundred men and eighty-six officers, 
of whom eight hundred and ninety men and sixteen offi- 
cers were killed or wounded. The slaughter of officers 
of the line had been so disastrous, that in the spring of 
the next year, Anthony Wayne, the new commander, 
found it extremely difficult to train the new troops. He 
had first to impart the military tactics to a group of 
young officers. "Several pieces of artillery, and all the 
baggage, ammunition, and provisions, were left on the 
field of battle, and fell into the hands of the Indians. The 
stores and other public property, lost in the action, were 
valued at thirty-two thousand eight hundred and ten dol- 
lars and seventy-five cents." The loss of the Indians was 
trifling. As near as may be ascertained, they had about 
thirty killed and fifty wounded. 

The field of action was visited by General James 
Wilkinson about the first of February, 1792. An officer 
who was present relates the following: "The scene was 
truly melancholy. In my opinion those unfortunate men 
who fell into the enemy's hands, with life, were used with 
the greatest torture — having their limbs torn off; and 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 205 

the women had been treated with the most indecent cruel- 
ty, having stakes, as thick as a person's arm, drove 
through their bodies." In December, 1793, General 
Wayne, having arrived at Greenville, Ohio, sent forward 
a detachment to the spot of the great defeat. "They ar- 
rived on the ground, on Christmas day, and pitched their 
tents at night ; they had to scrape the bones together and 
carry them out to make their beds. The next day holes 
were dug, and the bones remaining above ground were 
buried ; six hundred skulls being found among them." 

The whole nation was terribly shocked by the news 
of the defeat. The bordermen of Pennsylvania, Virginia 
and Kentucky were immediately exposed to a renewal of 
Indian attacks and the government seemed powerless. 
St. Clair came in for severe censure, more severe in fact, 
than was justly warranted. The sending back of Ham- 
tramck's regiment, the unfortified condition of the camp 
on the night before the attack, the posting of the militia 
in advance of the main army, and the utter lack of scouts 
and runners, were all bad enough, but on the other hand, 
the delay and confusion in the quartermaster's depart- 
ment, the dereliction of the contractors, and the want of 
discipline among the militia and the levies, were all mat- 
ters of extenuation. To win was hopeless. To unjustly 
denounce an old and worthy veteran of the Revolution, 
who acted with so much manly courage on the field of bat- 
tle, ill becomes an American. A committee of Congress 
completely exonerated him. 

The administration itself and the department of war, 
were sharply criticized. But the representatives of the 



206 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

people themselves were more to blame than the govern- 
ment. Thousands had deprecated the attempt of the 
President to protect the frontiers and to sustain the arm 
of the western generals. The mean and niggardly sup- 
port accorded the commander-in-chief, was largely instru- 
mental in bringing about the lamentable result. The 
jealous and parsimonious states of the east, had regarded 
only their own selfish ends, to the utter exclusion of the 
national interest. 



CHAPTER XIV 

WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 

— Final triumvh of the Government over Indians and 
British. 

The great soul of Washington was sorely tried, but 
he did not falter. The first thing to do was to raise an 
efficient army, and that was done. Early in the year 
1792, the forces of the United States were put on a new 
footing. The military establishment was now to con- 
sist of "five thousand one hundred and sixty-eight non- 
commissioned officers, privates and musicians." Enlist- 
ments were to be made for a period of three years, and 
the pay of the soldiers increased. General Anthony 
Wayne was appointed commander and instructed by 
Washington to spare neither powder nor ball, 'so that his 
men be made marksmen.' 

Wayne was a fighter of fearless courage and daring 
brilliancy. He was now forty-seven years of age and 
had entered the revolution as a Colonel in the Continental 
Army. He had fought with Washington at Brandywine 
and Germantown, and had driven the Hessians at the 
point of the bayonet. "At Monmouth he turned the for- 
tunes of the day by his stubborn and successful resist- 
ance to the repeated bayonet charges of the Guards and 

207 



208 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Grenadiers." The storming of Stony Point is ranked by 
Lossing- as one of the most brilliant achievements of the 
Revolutionary war. He fought at Yorktov^^n and later 
drove the English out of Georgia. His favorite weapon 
of offense was the bayonet. General William Henry Har- 
rison, who was aide to Wayne at the battle of Fallen 
Timbers, said to him: "General Wayne, I am afraid you 
will get into the fight yourself, and forget to give me the 
necessary field orders." "Perhaps I may," replied Wayne, 
"and if I do, recollect the standing order of the day is, 
'Charge the damned rascals with the bayonets!' " 

In the month of June, 1792, Wayne arrived at Pitts- 
burgh to take charge of his new command. Most of the 
new army were ignorant of military tactics, and without 
discipline, but the General at once entered vigorously 
upon his great task. On the twenty-eighth of November, 
the army left Pittsburgh and encamped at Legionville, 
twenty-two miles to the south. Here the great work of 
training the raw recruits proceeded. "By the salutary 
measures adopted to introduce order and discipline, the 
army soon began to assum.e its proper character. The 
troops were daily exercised in all the evolutions necessary 
to render them efficient soldiers, and more especially in 
those maneuvers proper in a campaign against savages. 
Firing at a mark was constantly practiced, and rewards 
given to the best marksmen. To inspire emulation, the 
riflemen and the infantry strove to excel, and the men 
soon attained to an accuracy that gave them confidence 
in their own prowess. On the artillery the General im- 
pressed the importance of that arm of the service. The 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 209 

dragoons he taught to rely on the broadsword, as all 
important to victory. The riflemen were made to see 
how much success must depend on their coolness, quick- 
ness and accuracy; while the infantry were led to place 
entire confidence in the bayonet, as the certain and ir- 
resistible weapon before which the savages could not 
stand. The men were instructed to charge in open order; 
each to rely on himself, and to prepare for a personal con- 
test with the enemy." The orders and admonitions of 
Wayne fell not on deaf ears. The Legion of the United 
States became a thing of life. In the battle at the Miami 
Rapids a soldier of the Legion met a single warrior in the 
woods and they attacked each other, "the soldier with 
his bayonet, the Indian with his tomahawk. Two days 
after, they were found dead ; the soldier with his bayonet 
in the body of the Indian — the Indian with his tomahawk 
in the head of the soldier." 

About the first of May, 1793, the army moved down 
the Ohio in boats and encamped near Fort Washington, 
Cincinnati, at a place which was named "Hobson's 
Choice." At this place the main body of the troops was 
halted until about the seventh of October, to await the 
outcome of the repeated attempts of the government to 
make peace with the Indian tribes. 

The difficulties that beset the pathway of President 
Washington at the opening of the year 1792, seemed in- 
surmountable. On the one hand, the people of the east 
regarded the westerners as the real aggressors in the 
border conflicts, and were extremely loath to grant aid to 
the government. The debates in Congress reflected their 



210 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

attitude. On the other hand, the people of Kentucky re- 
garded the efforts of the government to secure to them the 
navigation of the Mississippi, as procrastinating and fu- 
tile. They even suspected the good faith of Washington 
himself, but in this they erred, for negotiations were on 
foot that finally secured to them the desired end. Moreover 
the failure of Harmar and the disaster of St. Clair had 
filled the backwoodsmen with misgivings and they had no 
faith in the regular army or its generals. The extreme 
poverty of the government, the utter lack of support from 
all sections, would have brought dismay to the heart of 
any man but Washington. He, however, remained firm. 
Forced by what Roosevelt has termed as the "supine in- 
difference of the people at large," he determined to make 
one more effort to secure peace, but failing in that, the 
army of Anthony Wayne should be made ready for the 
final appeal to arms. 

On the seventh of April, 1792, Freeman and Gerrard, 
two messengers of peace, were sent forward to the 
Maumee, but both were killed. About the twentieth of 
May, Major Alexander Trueman, of the First United 
States Regiment, and Colonel John Hardin, of Kentucky, 
left Fort Washington with copies of a speech from Presi- 
dent Washington to the Indians. The President express- 
ed his desire to impart to the tribes all the blessings of 
civilized life; to teach them to cultivate the earth and 
to raise corn and domestic animals; to build comfortable 
houses and to educate their children. He expressly dis- 
affirmed any intention to seize any additional lands, and 
promised that compensation should be made to all tribes 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 211 

who had not received full satisfaction. The threat of 
Simon Girty against Proctor, was now made good as 
against both Hardin and Trueman. Hardin was to go 
among the Wyandots at Sandusky, while Trueman pro- 
ceeded to the Rapids of the Maumee. Months after they 
had departed, one William May, who had been captured 
by the Indians, testified that he saw the scalp of Trueman 
dangling on a stick, and that Trueman's papers fell into 
the hands of Alexander McKee, who forwarded them to 
Detroit. Later he saw another scalp said to be the brave 
Colonel Hardin's, and Hardin's papers fell into the hands 
of Matthew Elliott. This was the answer of the savage 
allies to the flag of truce. 

In May, 1792, General Rufus Putnam, of Ohio, and 
the Reverend John Heckewelder, of the Moravian mis- 
sions, were sent to the Wabash tribes to make a treaty. 
The instructions to Putman were of the most pacific na- 
ture. He was told to renounce on the part of the United 
States, "all claim to any Indian land which shall not have 
been ceded by fair treaties, made with the Indian na- 
tions." "You will make it clearly understood, that we 
want not a foot of their land, and that it is theirs, and 
theirs only; that they have the right to sell, and the 
right to refuse to sell, and the United States will guaran- 
tee to them the said just right." Putnam carried forward 
with him about one hundred women and children captured 
by Scott and Wilkinson, and a number of presents for 
the Wea and other chiefs. A treaty was finally made with 
a small number of Weas, Kickapoos, and other Wabash 
and Illinois tribes at Vincennes on the twenty-seventh 



212 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of September, but all attempts to induce the Miamis to 
join in the negotiations were unavailing. Pricked on by 
Elliott, the Girtys and McKee, the chiefs at Kekionga 
were threatening the Potawatomi and the tribes of the 
lower Wabash with the destruction of their villages, if 
they failed to oppose the advances of the Americans. 
The treaty at Vincennes had little, if any, effect, upon 
the posture of affairs. 

Still other efforts were made by the government. 
Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chieftain, was induced to come 
to Philadelphia in June, 1792, and he received the most 
"marked attention," at the hands of the government offi- 
cials. He remained at the capital some ten or twelve 
days, and it was sincerely hoped that he could 
be persuaded to undertake the office of a messenger 
of peace, but he was a pensioner of the British and 
thoroughly under their control. The next summer we 
find him urging the northwestern tribes to arms, and 
offering the aid of his tomahawk to Alexander McKee. 
The government next turned to Cornplanter and the 
chiefs of the more friendly Iroquois. In March, 1792, 
about fifty headmen of these tribes visited the city of 
Philadelphia and communed on terms of amity with the 
American officers. The Cornplanter, with forty-eight 
chiefs of the Six Nations, were now deputed to a grand 
council of the Miami confederates held at Au Glaize on 
the Maumee in the fall of 1792. "There were so many 
nations," says the Cornplanter, "that we cannot tell the 
names of them. There were three men from the Gora 
Nations; it took them a whole season to come, and 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 213 

twenty-seven nations from beyond Canada." Joseph Brant, 
who detested the Cornplanter, was not present, but Blue 
Jacket and the Shawnees were there filled with hate. 
They accused the Iroquois with speaking 'from the out- 
side of their lips,' and told their chiefs that they came 
with the Voice of the United States folded under their 
arm.' Every word was haughty, proud and defiant, but 
in the end the Iroquois wrung a promise from them to 
suspend hostilities until the ensuing spring, when a 
council of peace should be held with the Americans. This 
promise was not kept. War parties of Shawnees con- 
stantly prowled along the Ohio stealing horses and cattle, 
burning cabins, and leading away captives to the Indian 
towns. On the morning of the sixth of November, an 
army of three hundred Indians composed of Miamis, Dela- 
wares, Shawnees and Potawatomi, commanded by the 
Little Turtle, attacked a party of about one hundred Ken- 
tucky militia under the walls of Fort St. Clair, situated 
on the line of march from Fort Washington to the Miami 
villages. They were under the command of Major John 
Adair, afterwards governor of the State of Kentucky. 
Little Turtle's object was to wipe out a white settlement 
at the mouth of the Little Miami, but capturing two men 
near Fort Hamilton, he learned that the Kentuckians were 
escorting a brigade of packhorses on their way to Fort 
Jefferson, and he determined to waylay them. The attack 
occurred just before daybreak and was opened by a hid- 
eous chorus of Indian yells, but the Kentuckians bravely 
stood their ground and repelled the assault. Six men were 
killed, including Lieutenant Job Hale, and five men wound- 



214 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ed. The camp equipment and about one hundred and 
forty horses were lost. The Indians had two killed. 

The spring of 1793 came, the time for the proposed 
council. The British had promised to give their aid and 
co-operation in the forming of a friendly compact. Full 
credence seems to have been given to their statements. The 
President appointed Benjamin Lincoln, of Massachusetts, 
Beverly Randolph, of Virginia, and Timothy Pickering, 
of Pennsylvania, as commissioners. The basis of their 
negotiations was to be the treaty of Fort Harmar, of 1789, 
which the government considered "as having been formed 
on solid grounds — the principle being that of a fair pur- 
chase and sale." They were to ascertain definitely the 
Indian proprietors northward of the Ohio and south of 
the Lakes; to secure a confirmation of the boundary es- 
tablished at Fort Harmar, and to guarantee to the tribes 
the right of the soil in all their remaining lands. Liberal 
payment was to be made for all concessions, and annuities 
granted. The commissioners were to be accompanied by 
the Reverend John Heckewelder, who had gone with 
Putnam to Vincennes, and who was thoroughly conver- 
sant with the Delaware language. Some Quakers were 
also in the party. 

The commissioners left Philadelphia in April, and ar- 
rived at Fort Niagara on the southern shore of Lake On- 
tario in the month of May. Niagara was then in com- 
mand of Colonel Simcoe, of the British army, who invit- 
ed them to take up quarters at Navy Hall. This invita- 
tion was accepted, and the commissioners now awaited 
the termination of the preliminaries of a grand council 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 215 

of the northwestern tribes which was being held at the 
Rapids on the Maumee. On the seventh of June, the 
commissioners addressed a note to Simcoe, suggesting 
the importance of the coming conference, their wish to 
counteract the deep-rooted prejudices of the tribes, and 
their desire for a full co-operation on the part of the Eng- 
lish officers. Among other things, they called the Colo- 
nel's attention to a report circulated by a Mohawk Indian 
to the effect that "Governor Simcoe advised the Indians 
to make peace, but not to give up any lands." The Colonel 
promptly replied, tendering his services in the coming 
negotiations, appointing certain officers to attend the 
treaty, and particularly denying the declaration of the 
Mohawk. But in his reply he used these words : "But, as 
it has been, ever since the conquest of Canada, the prin- 
ciple of the British government, to unite the American 
Indians, that, all petty jealousies being extinguished, the 
real wishes of the tribes may be fully expressed, and in 
consequence all the treaties made with them, may have 
the most complete ratification and universal concurrence, 
so, he feels it proper to state to the commissioners, that a 
jealousy of a contrary conduct in the agents of the United 
States, appears to him to have been deeply impressed upon 
the minds of the confederacy." In view of the subsequent 
results, the story of the Mohawk may not have been wholly 
without foundation. 

On the fifth day of July, Colonel John Butler, of the 
British Indian department, Joseph Brant, and about fifty 
Indians from the council of the tribes on the Maumee, ar- 
rived at Niagara. On the seventh, the commissioners, and 



216 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

a number of the civil and military officers of the crown 
being present, Brant addressed the American envoys 
and said in substance that he was representing the Indian 
nations who owned all the lands north of the Ohio "as 
their common property ;" that the treaty had been delayed 
on account of the presence of the American army north of 
the Ohio ; that the tribes wanted an explanation of these 
warlike appearances, and desired to know whether the 
commissioners were authorized "to run and establish a 
new boundary line between the lands of the United States, 
and of the Indian nations." On the next day, the commis- 
sioners gave full answer. They informed the Indian depu- 
tation that the purposes of the United States were wholly 
peaceful ; that the Great Chief, General Washington, had 
strictly forbidden all hostilities, and that the governors 
of the states adjoining the Ohio had issued orders to the 
same effect. However, to satisfy the tribes, they would 
immediately dispatch a messenger on horseback to the 
seat of the government, with a request that the "head 
warrior," General Wayne, be instructed to remain quietly 
at the posts until the event of the treaty could be known. 
This was faithfully done. With reference to the running 
of a new boundary line, the commissioners expressly stat- 
ed that they were vested with full authority to that end, 
but that mutual concessions were necessary to a reconcile- 
ment, and that this should be plainly understood by both 
sides. On the ninth of July, Brant gave assurance that 
the answer of the commissioners had been satisfactory. 
"Brothers : We think, from your speech, that there is a 
prospect of our coming together. We, who are the nations 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 217 

at the westward are of one mind ; and, if we agree with 
you, as there is a prospect that we shall, it will be binding 
and lasting. Brothers; Our prospects are the fairer, be- 
cause all our minds are one. You have not spoken be- 
fore to us unitedly. Formerly, because you did not speak 
to us unitedly, what was done was not binding. Now you 
have an opportunity of speaking to us together; and we 
now take you by the hand, to lead you to the place appoint- 
ed for the meeting." In explanation of this peaceful lang- 
uage and his subsequent conduct, Brant afterwards wrote 
that, "for several years (after the peace of 1783), we 
were engaged in getting a confederacy formed, and the 
unanimity occasioned by these endeavors among our west- 
ern brethren, enabled them to defeat two American 
armies. The war continued without our brothers, the 
English, giving any assistance, excepting a little ammuni- 
tion; and they seeming to desire that a peace might be 
concluded, we tried to bring it about at a tim.e when the 
United States desired it very much, so that they sent 
commissioners from among their first people, to endeavor 
to make peace with the hostile Indians. We assembled 
also, for that purpose, at the Miami River, in the summer 
of 1793, intending to act as mediators in bringing about 
an honorable peace ; and if that could not be obtained, we 
resolved to join with our western brethren in trying the 
fortunes of war. But to our surprise, when on the point of 
entering on a treaty with the Commissioners, we found 
that it was opposed by those acting under the British gov- 
ernment, and hopes of further assistance were given to our 
western brethren, to encourage them to insist on the Ohio 



218 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

as a boundary between them and the United States." 
Whatever the truth may be as to Brant's peaceful inten- 
tions on the ninth of July, his attitude was certain on the 
fourth of the succeeding August. On that date, according 
to Roosevelt, the treacherous pensioner wrote to Alex- 
ander McKee that "we came here not only to assist with 
our advice, but other ways, * * * we came here with 
arms in our hands." Following the advice of his British 
counsellors, he advised the northwestern Indians not to 
yield an inch, and to stand on the Ohio as their southern 
boundary. 

The Commissioners of the United States were doom- 
ed to meet with a sudden and unexpected interruption of 
their proceedings. On the twenty-first of July they ar- 
rived at the mouth of the Detroit river. They immediately 
addressed a note to McKee informing him of their arrival, 
and expressing a desire to meet with the confederated 
tribes. On the twenty-ninth of July a deputation of over 
twenty Indians, among whom was the Delaware chief, 
Buck-ong-a-he-las, arrived with Captain Matthew Elliott. 
On the next day, and in the presence of the British offi- 
cers, the Wyandot chief, Sa-wagh-da-wunk, after a brief 
salutation, presented to the Commissioners a paper 
writing. It contained this ultimatum, dictated beyond 
doubt by the British agents: "Brothers: "You are sent 
here by the United States, in order to make peace with 
us, the confederate Indians. Brothers: You very well 
know that the boundary line, which was run between the 
white people and us, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, was 
the river Ohio. Brothers : If you seriously design to make a 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 219 

firm and lasting peace, you will immediately remove all 
your people from our side of that river. Brothers : We 
therefore ask you, are you fully authorized by the United 
States to continue, and firmly fix on the Ohio river, as 
the boundary between your people and ours?" This docu- 
ment was signed by the confederated nations of the Wyan- 
dots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Potawatomi, 
Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas and Munsees, at the Mau- 
mee Rapids on the twenty-seventh of July, 1793. 

The remaining passages between the Commissioners 
and the Indian allies are briefly told. In vain did the 
Commissioners urge that settlements and valuable im- 
provements had been made on the faith of past treaties ; 
that it was not only impracticable but wholly impossible 
to consider the Ohio as the boundary ; that the treaty of 
Fort Harmar had been made in good faith and with the 
very tribes who professed to own the lands ceded. In 
vain did they admit the former mistakes of the govern- 
ment in setting up a claim to the whole country south of 
the Great Lakes. The jealous and apprehensive chief- 
tains, spurred on and encouraged by British promise of 
support, refused to listen to all appeals, contemptuously 
rejected all offers of money or compensation, and insisted 
to the last on the Ohio as the boundary. 

That the full responsibility for this action on the 
part of the tribes must be laid at the door of the British, 
goes without successful challenge. If at the beginning 
they had only furnished a little ammunition, as Brant 
says, they were now fast becoming openly hostile. The 
French Revolution had opened, and England and France 



220 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

were battling for supremacy. In order to cut off supplies 
of food from the French people, England had seized all 
cargoes of corn, flour and meal bound for French ports, 
and had purchased them for the benefit of his majesty's 
service. This action had greatly irritated the American 
merchants and had led to serious remonstrance on the 
part of the government. England had also asserted the 
right to board neutral vessels and impress British sea- 
men whenever found. Many an American ship had been 
hailed on the high seas, and forced to submit to a humili- 
ating search. It was claimed that many American sailors 
had been seized and forced to enter the British service. 
Added to all this, the Citizen Genet had, in the early part 
of the year 1793, arrived in America. As the representative 
of the French Republic he was armed with numerous 
blank commissions for privateers, to be delivered "to such 
French and American owners as should apply for the 
same." An attack was to be launched on British com- 
merce. Before he arrived at Philadelphia the British 
minister had laid before the President a list of complaints 
"founded principally on the proceedings of Mr. Genet, 
who, at Charleston, undertook to authorize the fitting 
and arming of vessels, enlisting men, and giving commis- 
sions to cruise and commit hostilities on nations with 
whom the United States were at peace." Washington did 
everything in his power to preserve neutrality. On the 
twenty-second of April, 1793, and twenty-three days be- 
fore Genet arrived at Philadelphia, the President issued a 
proclamation, declaring that "the duty and interest of the 
United States required that they should, with sincerity 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 221 

and good faith, adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and 
impartial toward the belligerent powers." But the vast 
majority of the people of the United States, including 
many high in public life, were in open sympathy with the 
French and utterly detested England. These sentiments 
were particularly marked in the western countries, for 
there the people had suffered from all the cruelty and 
savagery of the Indian warfare, and they fiercely denoun- 
ced the British agents. 

Under all these circumstances the relations between 
Great Britain and the United States had become tense and 
strained. The provincial officers at Quebec and the In- 
dian partisans at Detroit quickly echoed the mood of the 
home government. In the event of a new war, England 
could again command the savage allies and ravage the 
frontiers as she had done during the revolution. The 
Indians would not only prove to be a useful barrier in the 
event of an American invasion of Canada, but they might 
help England to regain in part the territory she had lost. 
■"Hence, instead of promoting a pacification, the efforts of 
the Canadian government Vv^ere obviously exerted to pre- 
vent it." This, no doubt, accounts for what Brant has 
noted concerning the exchanges with the American com- 
missioners at the mouth of the Detroit river. The western 
tribes were suddenly given assurance by the British that 
England would come to their aid, and were told to insist 
on the Ohio as the limit of concession. This put an effec- 
tual stop to all further measures for peace. 

Wayne was now free to go forward with his cam- 
paign again, but so much time had been consumed by the 



222 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

commissioners, and the militia were so slow in arriving 
from Kentucky that the army did not take up its march 
from Hobson's Choice until the seventh of October, The 
general now had about twenty-six hundred effective men, 
including officers, thirty-six guides and spies, and about 
three hundred and sixty mounted volunteers. With these 
he determined to push forward to a position about six 
miles in advance of Fort Jefferson, and about eighty miles 
north of Cincinnati. He would thus excite a fear on the 
part of the savages for the safety of their women and 
children, and at the same time protect the frontiers. He 
expected resistance, for the Indians were "desperate and 
determined," but he was prepared to meet it. The savages 
constantly hung on his flanks, making attacks on his con- 
voys of provisions, and picking off the packhorses. On 
the morning of the seventeenth of October, a force of 
ninety non-commissioned officers and men under Lowry 
and Boyd, who were escorting twenty wagons loaded with 
grain, were suddenly assaulted about seven miles north 
of Fort St. Clair. Fifteen officers and men were killed, 
seventy horses killed or carried away, and the wagons 
left standing in the road. Nothing daunted, Wayne push- 
ed on. On the twenty-third of October, he wrote to the 
Secretary of War that, "the safety of the western fron- 
tiers, the reputation of the Legion, the dignity and in- 
terests of the nation, all forbid a retrograde maneuver, 
or giving up one inch of ground we now possess, until 
the enemy are compelled to sue for peace." 

In the meantime General Charles Scott had arrived 
from Kentucky with about one thousand mounted infan- 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 223 

try and had camped in the vicinity of Fort Jefferson, but 
the season was so far advanced, that Wayne now deter- 
mined to send the Kentuckians home, enter into winter 
quarters, and prepare for an effectual drive in the spring. 
Unlike his predecessors, Wayne entertained no distrust 
of the frontiersmen, but determined to utilize them with 
telling force. The hardy riflemen were quick to respond 
to a real leader of men. They looked on the wonderful 
bayonet practice, the expert marksmenship of the Legion, 
and the astonishing maneuvers of the cavalrymen with 
great admiration. When they went to their homes for the 
winter they were filled with a new confidence in the gov- 
ernment, and in its ability to protect their firesides. The 
vigilance, the daring, and the unflinching discipline of 
the continental general, gave them assurance. Fort Green- 
ville was now erected on a branch of the Big Miami, and 
here Wayne established his headquarters. In December, 
eight companies of infantry and a detachment of artillery 
erected Fort Recovery, on the spot made memorable by 
St. Clair's defeat. 

At the opening of the year 1794, "the relations be- 
tween Great Britain and the United States had become 
so strained," says Roosevelt, "that open war was threat- 
ened." On the tenth of February, Lord Dorchester ad- 
dressed a deputation of prominent chiefs of the north- 
western tribes as follows : Children : I was in the expecta- 
tion of hearing from the people of the United States what 
was required by them : I hoped that I should be able to 
bring you all together, and make you friends. Children : 
I have waited long, and listened with great attention, but 



224 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

I have not heard one word from them. Children : I flat- 
tered myself with the hope that the line proposed in the 
year eighty-three, to separate us from the United States, 
which was immediately broken by themselves as soon as 
the peace was signed, would have been mended, or a new 
one drawn, in an amicable manner. Here, also, I have 
been disappointed. Children: Since my return, I find 
that no appearance of a line remains ; and from the man- 
ner in which the people of the United States rush on, and 
act and talk, on this side ; and from what I learn of their 
conduct toward the sea, I shall not be surprised, if we are 
at war with them in the course of the present year ; and 
if so, a line must then be drawn by the warriors." Copies 
of this speech were circulated everywhere among the 
tribes. Alexander McKee, Lieutenant-Colonel John But- 
ler, of the British army, and Joseph Brant were active. 
Large presents were sent up from Quebec, ammunition 
and arms were distributed, and the Ottawas and Chippe- 
was summoned from the far north. In April, 1794, Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Simcoe, of Canada, openly advanced 
into the American territory, built a fort at the Miami Ra- 
pids, and garrisoned it with British redcoats. Massive 
parapets were constructed on which were mounted heavy 
artillery. The outer walls were surrounded by a deep 
fosse and "f rasing" which rendered it secure from escal- 
ade. The Indians, thus buttressed, as they supposed, by 
British support, were openly defiant and refused to make 
peace. 

The indignation of the American people may well be 
imagined. To a long train of secret machinations the 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 225 

British now added open insult. Washington, justly arous- 
ed by England's long course of treachery and double-deal- 
ing, wrote to Jay concerning Simcoe's action as follows :- 
"Can that government, or will it attempt, after this offi- 
cial act of one of their governors, to hold out ideas of 
friendly intentions toward the United States, and suffer 
such conduct to pass with impunity? This may be con- 
sidered the most open and daring act of the British agents 
in America, though it is not the most hostile or cruel; 
for there does not remain a doubt in the mind of any well- 
informed person in this country, not shut against con- 
viction, that all the difficulties we encounter with the In- 
dians — their hostilities, the murder of helpless women and 
innocent children along our frontiers — result from the 
conduct of the agents of Great Britain in this country. 
In vain is it, then, for its administration in Britain to 
disavow having given orders which will warrant such 
conduct, whilst their agents go unpunished; whilst we 
have a thousand corroborating circumstances, and indeed 
almost as many evidences, some of which cannot be 
brought forward, to know that they are seducing from 
our alliance, and endeavoring to move over the line, tribes 
that have hitherto been kept in peace and friend- 
ship with us at heavy expense, and who have no causes 
of complaint, except pretended ones of their creating; 
whilst they keep in a state of irritation the tribes who 
are hostile to us, and are instigating those who know little 
of us or we of them, to unite in the war against us ; and 
whilst it is an undeniable fact that they are furnishing 
the whole with arms, ammunition, clothing, and even pro- 



226 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

visions to carry on the war; I might go farther, and if 
they are not much belied, add men also in disguise." The 
President also called on the British minister, Mr. Ham- 
mond, for an explanation. Hammond, while admitting the 
authenticity of Dorchester's speech and the construction 
of the British fort on the Maumee, pointed to pretended 
acts of hostility on the part of the United States. This 
was the insolent tone assumed toward a government con- 
sidered to be too weak to defend its lawful rights. 

The British were now busy in assembling a savage 
army to oppose Wayne's advance. Two Potawatomi cap- 
tured on the fifth of June, said that a message had been 
sent to their tribe to join in the war against the United 
States; that the British were at Roche de Bout on the 
Maumee with about four hundred troops and two pieces 
of artillery, exclusive of the Detroit militia, and that they 
"had made a fortification around Colonel McKee's house 
and store at that place, in which they had deposited all 
their stores and ammunition, arms, clothing and provi- 
sions with which they promised to supply all the hostile 
Indians in abundance, provided they would join and go 
with them to war ; that about two thousand warriors had 
been assembled, and that Governor Simcoe had promised 
that fifteen hundred British troops and militia would 
join them in the attack on the Americans." They fur- 
ther related that this same Governor Simcoe had sent 
them four different invitations to join in the war, promis- 
ing them arms, ammunition, provisions and clothing, and 
everything that they wanted. "All the speeches," said 
these Potawatomi, "that we received from him, were as 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 227 

red as blood ; all the wampum and feathers were painted 
red ; the war pipes and hatchets were red ; and even the 
tobacco was red." The evidence furnished by two Shaw- 
nees, captured on the twenty-second of June, corroborated 
the Potawatomi. They testified that the British were 
always setting the Indians on, like dogs after game, press- 
ing them to go to war, and kill the Americans, "but did 
not help them ; that unless the British would turn out and 
help them, they were determined to make peace ; that they 
would not be any longer amused by promises only." 
Asked about the number of warriors collected along the 
Maumee, they put the number of the Shawnees at three 
hundred eighty, the Delawares at four hundred and 
eighty, the Miamis at one hundred, and the Wyandots 
at about one hundred and fifty. The Chippewas, however, 
would furnish the greatest number of fighting men, and 
they were on the way to the council. That the question 
of whether there would be a fight or not depended upon 
the British; "that the British were at the foot of the 
rapids, and had fortified at Roche de Bout ; that there was 
a great number of British soldiers at that place; that 
they told the Indians they were now come to help them 
to fight ; and if the Indians would generally turn out and 
join them, they would advance and fight the American 
army; that Blue Jacket had been sent by the British to 
the Chippewas and northern Indians, a considerable time 
since, to invite them, and bring them to Roche de Bout, 
there to join the British and other hostile Indians in order 
to go to war." 

On the last day of June, 1794, the premeditated blow 



228 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fell on Fort Recovery, the sqene of St. Clair's disaster in 
1791. The garrison was under the command of Captain 
Alexander Gibson, of the Fourth Sub-Legion. Under the 
walls of the fort were a detachment of ninety riflemen and 
fifty dragoons under the command of Major McMahon, 
who had escorted a train of packhorses from Fort Green- 
ville on the day before, and who were now about to return. 
The Indians were, according to some authorities, under 
the command of the Bear chief, an Ottawa ; others assign 
their leadership to the Little Turtle. That they had plan- 
ned a coup de main and a sudden re-capture of the posi- 
tion is certain. Their army consisted of about fifteen 
hundred men; they had advanced in seventeen columns, 
with a wide and extended front, and their encampments 
were perfectly square and regular. They were attended 
by "a captain of the British army, a sergeant, and six 
matrosses, provided with fixed ammunition, suited to the 
calibre of two field pieces, which had been taken from 
General St. Clair, and deposited in a creek near the scene 
of his defeat in 1791." They expected to find this artil- 
lery, which had been hidden by the Indians, and turn it 
on the fort, but the guns had been recovered by their 
legitimate owners and were now used for defense. A 
considerable number of white men accompanied the sav- 
ages, disguised as Indians and with blackened faces, and 
three British officers, dressed in scarlet, were posted in 
the rear and encouraged the Indians in their repeated 
assaults. 

The first attack on Major McMahon was successful. 
Nineteen officers and privates and two packhorsemen 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 229 

were killed and about thirty men wounded. Packhorses 
to the number of two hundred were quickly taken. But 
the Indians now made a fatal mistake. In a spirit of 
rashness, they rushed on the fort. The determined legion- 
aries, aided by McMahon's men, poured in a murderous 
fire, and they fell back. Again they attacked, and again 
were they repulsed. All day long they kept up a constant 
and vigorous fire but it availed nothing. During the suc- 
ceeding night, which was dark and foggy, they carried off 
their dead. 

On the next morning the attack was renewed, but 
great numbers of the savages were now becoming dis- 
heartened. The loss inflicted by the American garrison 
had been severe, and was mourned for months by the 
Indian tribes. Forty or fifty red men had bit the dust and 
over a hundred had been wounded. Disgraced and crest- 
fallen the savage horde retired to the Maumee. The first 
encounter with Wayne's army had proved disastrous. 

On the twenty-sixth of July, Wayne was joined by 
sixteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky un- 
der the command of Major-General Charles Scott. Scott 
was a man of intrepid spirit and his men knew it. More- 
over, the Kentuckians now looked forward to certain vic- 
tory, for they trusted Wayne. On the twenty-eighth of 
July, the whole army moved forward to the Indian towns 
on the Maumee. No finer body of men ever went forth 
into the wilderness to meet a savage foe. Iron drill and 
constant practice at marksmanship had done their work. 
Officers and men, regulars and volunteers, were ready 
for the work at hand. Unlike Harmar and St. Clair, 



230 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Wayne had in his service some of the most renowned 
scouts and Indian fighters of the day. Ephraim Kibby, 
William Wells, Robert McClellan, Henry and Christopher 
Miller, and a party of Chickasaw and Choctaw warriors, 
constantly kept him posted concerning the number and 
whereabouts of the enemy, and the nature of the ground 
which he was to traverse. "The Indians who watched 
his march brought word to the British that his army went 
twice as far in a day as St. Clair's, that he kept his scouts 
well out and his troops always in open order and ready for 
battle ; that he exercised the greatest precaution to avoid 
an ambush or surprise, and that every night the camps 
of the different regiments were surrounded by breast- 
works of fallen trees so as to render a sudden assault 
hopeless." "We have beaten the enemy twice," said Little 
Turtle, "under separate commanders. We cannot expect 
the same good fortune always to attend us. The Amer- 
icans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night 
and the day are alike to him ; and, during all the time that 
he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstand- 
ing the watchfulness of our young men, we have never 
been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is 
something whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to 
his offers of peace." 

On the eighth of August Wayne reached the junction 
of the Au Glaize and the Maumee, and began the erection 
of Fort Defiance. The whole country was filled with the 
Indian gardens and corn fields which extended up the 
Maumee to the British fort. On the thirteenth of August, 
the General dispatched the scout, Christopher Miller, 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 231 

with the last and final overture of peace. In the event of 
a refusal, there must be a final appeal to arms. "Amer- 
ica," said Wayne, "shall no longer be insulted with im- 
punity. To the all-powerful and just God I therefore 
commit myself and gallant army." Impatient of a reply, 
Wayne moved forward again on the fifteenth, and met 
Miller returning. The Indians requested a delay of ten 
days to debate peace or war. Wayne gave orders to 
march on. At eight o'clock on the morning of the twen- 
tieth of August, 1794, the army advanced in columns 
and in open order to meet the enemy. The Indian forces 
consisted of Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas, 
Miamis, Potawatomi, Chippewas and Mohawks, number- 
ing from fifteen hundred to two thousand warriors. 
Added to these were two companies of Canadian militia 
from Amherstburg and Detroit, commanded by Captain 
Caldwell. Alexander McKee was present, and Matthew 
Elliott and Simon Girty, but they kept well in the rear 
and near the river. The whole mixed force of Indians 
and Canadians were encamped on the north bank of the 
Maumee, "at and around a hill called Tresque Isle,' about 
two miles south of the site of Maumee City, and four 
south of the British Fort Miami." 

The order of march was as follows: The Legion 
was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee. On 
the left hovered a brigade of mounted Kentucky volun- 
teers under Brigadier-General Todd. In the rear was 
another brigade of the same kind of troops under Briga- 
dier-General Barbee. In advance of the Legion rode a 
select battalion of mounted Kentuckians under Major 



232 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Price. These were to be on the lookout and to give time- 
ly notice to the regulars in case of attack. The army- 
had advanced about five miles and w^ere entering an area 
covered with fallen timber and high grass, when the ad- 
vance corps under Price received such a sudden and ter- 
rible fire from the hidden enemy that they were com- 
pelled to retreat. "The savages were formed in three 
lines, within supporting distance of each other, and ex- 
tending for two miles, at right angles with the river." 
The fallen trunks of the trees, blown down by a tornado, 
made a fine covert for the red men and prevented any 
favorable action by the cavalry. Wayne was instantly 
alert. He formed the Legion into two lines, one a short 
distance behind the other, and began the fight. He soon 
perceived from the weight of the savage fire and the ex- 
tent of their lines that they were trying to turn his left 
flank and drive him into the river. He now ordered the 
second line to advance and support the first; directed 
Major-General Scott to take all the mounted volunteers 
and turn the right flank of the enemy, while he issued 
orders to Mis Campbell who commanded the legionary 
cavalry, to gallop in at the right and next to the river and 
turn the Indian left. The front line was ordered to charge 
with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their 
coverts at the point of the bayonet, "and when up, to de- 
liver a close and well directed fire on their backs, followed 
by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load 
again." The mounted volunteers under Scott, Todd and 
Barbee, and the second line of the Legion, had only gained 
their positions in part, when the battle was over. The 
first line of the federal infantry, charging with that im- 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 233 

petuosity imparted to them by their gallant commander, 
drove savages and Canadians in headlong rout for a dis- 
tance of two miles and strewed the ground with many 
corpses. The legionary cavalry, blowing their trumpets 
and dashing in upon the terrified Indians, slew a part of 
them with broadswords, and put the remainder to instant 
retreat. "This horde of savages," says Wayne, "with 
their allies, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed 
with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in 
full and quiet possession of the field of battle." The 
British, with their usual treachery, closed the gates of 
the fort in the face of the fleeing red men and refused 
them refuge. Lured and encouraged into a hopeless con- 
test, they found themselves abandoned by that very power 
that had urged them to reject all offers of peace. The 
Americans lost thirty-three in killed, and had one hundred 
wounded. The savage loss was much heavier. 

Immediately after the battle of Fallen Timbers the 
American army moved down the river and encamped 
within view of the British garrison. Fort Miami occupied 
a well fortified position on the north bank of the Maumee 
near the present Maumee City. There were four nine- 
pounders, two large howitzers, and six six-pounders, 
mounted in the fort, and two swivels. The entire fortifi- 
cation was surrounded by a wide, deep ditch about twenty 
feet deep from the top of the parapet. The forces within 
consisted of about two hundred and fifty regulars and 
two hundred militia. All were under command of Major 
William Campbell, of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. The 
rout of the Indian allies had been humiliating enough. 



234 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

but at sight of the victorious ranks of the American army 
Campbell became furious. On the next day after the 
battle he could contain himself no longer. He addressed 
a note to Wayne complaining that the army of the United 
States had taken post on the banks of the Maumee and 
within range of his majesty's fort, for upwards of twenty- 
four hours, and he desired to inform himself as speedily 
as possible, in what light he was to view so near an ap- 
proach to the garrison. Wayne made immediate reply. 
He said that without questioning the authority or the 
propriety of the major's question, he thought that he 
might without breach of decorum observe, that if the 
major was entitled to an answer, that a most full and 
satisfactory one had been announced to him from the 
muzzles of his (Wayne's) small arms on the previous day, 
in an action against a horde of savages in the vicinity of 
the British post, which had terminated gloriously to the 
American arms. He further declared that if said action 
had continued until the Indians were driven under the 
influence of the British guns, that these guns would not 
have much impeded the progress of the victorious army 
under his command, "as no such post was established at 
the commencement of the present war between the In- 
dians and the United States." On the next day the in- 
censed major wrote another note, threatening Wayne 
with war if he continued to approach within pistol shot 
of the fort with arms in his hands. To this Wayne replied 
by inviting the major to return with his men, artillery 
and stores to the nearest post "occupied by his Britannic 
Majesty's troops at the peace of 1783." Campbell wrote 
another reply refusing to vacate the fort and warning 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 235 

Wayne not to approach within reach of his cannon. "The 
only notice taken of this letter," says Wayne, "was by 
immediately setting fire to and destroying everything 
within view of the fort, and even under the muzzles of the 
guns." For three days and nights the American troops 
continued to destroy the houses and corn fields of the 
enemy both above and below the British post, while the 
garrison looked on and dared not sally forth. One of the 
severest sufferers from this devastation was the notorious 
renegade, Alexander McKee, who had done so much to 
inflame the war between the tribes and the United States. 
His houses, stores and property were utterly consumed. 

The army now retired by easy marches to Fort De- 
fiance, laying waste the villages and corn fields for about 
fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. On the fourteenth 
of September the march was taken up for the Miami vil- 
lages at the junction of the St. Joseph and the St. Marys, 
and the troops arrived there on the seventeenth. On the 
eighteenth, Wayne selected a site for a fort. On the 
twenty-second of October the new fortification was com- 
pleted, and a force of infantry and artillery stationed 
there under command of Colonel John F. Hamtramck. 
The new post was named Fort Wayne. On the twenty- 
eighth of October, the main body of the troops started 
back on the trace to Fort Greenville, and here, on the 
second day of November, 1794, (General Wayne re-estab- 
lished his headquarters. 

The victory of Wayne was complete and final. It 
brought peace to the frontiers, and pavea the way for 
the advance of civilization. In 1802, Ohio became a state 



236 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of the Union. His triumph did more. It made the name 
and the power of the United States respected as they 
never were before, and gave authority and dignity to the 
federal arms. The Indian tribes were sorely dispirited. 
Not only had the British abandoned them in their final 
hour of defeat, but their fields and cabins had been laid 
waste and their supplies of food destroyed. There was 
much suffering among them during the ensuing winter. 
The establishment of the post at Fort Wayne put a new 
obstacle in the path of the British in the valleys of the 
Wabash and the Maumee, and led the way to the final 
abandonment of the northwest by their troops and gar- 
risons. 

The administration of Washington was also vindi- 
cated. In the face of two disheartening defeats, a lack 
of confidence in the west, and almost open opposition in 
the east, a fighting general had at last been found, an 
army trained, and led forth to splendid victory. The 
great northwest owes a debt of eternal gratitude to the 
first president of the republic, George Washington. 

The administration was further successful. While 
General Wayne was preparing for his campaign, the 
Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay, had been 
sent to England to effect a treaty of peace. Feeling was 
high in both countries and the danger of war was immi- 
nent, but the prudence and moderation of Washington 
led him to see that what the nation needed most was peace 
and repose and a chance for development. On the nine- 
teenth of November, 1794, Mr. Jay and Lord Grenville 
"concluded a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation be- 



WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMBERS 237 

tween the United States and Great Britain," by the terms 
of which the latter country, among other things, agreed 
to surrender the western posts. On the eleventh day of 
July, 1796, at the hour of noon, the Stars and Stripes 
floated over the ramparts of the British fort at Detroit. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE 

— The surrender of the Ohio lands of the Miamis and 
their final submission to the Government. 

Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, Joseph Brant and Alex- 
ander McKee did all that lay within their power to stem 
the tide of savage defection. Simcoe advised the tribes 
not to listen to any American overtures of peace, but to 
simply propose a truce and make ready for further hos- 
tilities. He tried to secure a deed of trust for the Indian 
lands from each nation, promising them that England 
would guarantee the land thus ceded. A general attack 
was to be made on all the frontiers in the spring. Brant 
told them "to keep a good heart and be strong; to do as 
their father advised." In the spring he would return 
with a large party of warriors to fight, kill and pursue the 
Americans. He had always been successful and victory 
was assured. McKee was active distributing clothing and 
provisions. He made an especial appeal to the Shawnees 
who were known to be the most hostile of all the tribes. 
In a private conference afterwards held with Wayne, the 
Shawnee chief, Blue Jacket, told the general that McKee 
had invited him to his house and had strongly urged him 
to keep away from the council with the Americans. See- 
ing that his entreaties were of no avail, he said: "The 
commission you received from Johnson was not given you 

238 



THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE 239 

to carry to the Americans. I am grieved to find that you 
have taken it to them. It was with much regret I learned 
that you have deserted your friends, who have always 
caressed you, and treated you as a great man. You have 
deranged, by your imprudent conduct, all our plans for 
protecting the Indians, and keeping them with us. They 
have always looked up to you for advice and direction 
in the war, and you have now broke the strong ties which 
held them all together, under your and our direction. 
You must now be viewed as the enemy of your people, 
and the other Indians whom you are seducing into the 
snares of the Americans have formed for their ruin, and 
the massacre and destruction of their people by the Amer- 
icans must be laid to your charge." Massas, a Chippewa 
chieftain, told Wayne that when he returned from the 
treaty of Muskingum (Fort Harmar) , that McKee threat- 
ened to kill him. "I have not now less cause to fear him, 
as he endeavored to prevent my coming hither." 

The importunities of the British agents, however, 
failed of their object. The Indians had lost all confidence 
in British promises and Wayne had filled them with a 
wholesome respect for the American arms. Numbers of 
their leading chieftains, including Tarhe, of the Wyan- 
dots, and Little Turtle of the Miamis, thought all further 
resistance useless. No doubt many of them entertained 
the views that Brant long afterwards openly expressed 
to Sir John Johnson. "In the_first place," said the great 
Mohawk, "the Indians were engaged in a war to assist 
the English — then left in the lurch at the peace, to fight 
alone until they could make peace for themselves. After 



240 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

repeatedly defeating the armies of the United States, so 
that they sent Commissioners to endeavor to get peace, 
the Indians were so advised as prevented them from 
listening to any terms, and hopes were given them of 
assistance. A fort was even built in their country, under 
pretense of giving refuge in case of necessity ; but when 
that time came, the gates were shut against them as 
enemies. They were doubly injured by this, because 
they relied on it for support, and were deceived. Was it 
not for this reliance of mutual support, their conduct 
would have been different." 

The first to come to Greenville to consult with Wayne, 
were the Wyandots of Sandusky. "He told them he pitied 
them for their folly in listening to the British, who were 
very glad to urge them to fight and to give them ammuni- 
tion, but who had neither the power nor the inclination 
to help them when the time of trial came; that hitherto 
the Indians had felt only the weight of his little finger, 
but that he would surely destroy all the tribes in the near 
future if they did not make peace." During the winter of 
1794-1795 parties of Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pot- 
awatomi. Sacs, Miamis, Delawares and Shawnees came 
in, and on February 11th, 1795, the preliminaries of a 
treaty were agreed upon between the Shawnees, Dela- 
wares and Miamis, and the Americans. Arrangements 
were also made for a grand council with all the Indian 
nations at Fort Greenville, on or about the fifteenth of 
the ensuing June. 

The assemblage of Indian warriors and headmen that 
met with Anthony Wayne on the sixteenth of June, and 




o 






O 



THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE 241 

continued in session until the tenth day of August, 1795, 
was the most noted ever held in America. Present, were 
one hundred and eighty Wyandots, three hundred and 
eighty-one Delawares, one hundred and forty-three Shaw- 
nees, forty-five Ottawas, forty-six Chippewas, two hun- 
dred and forty Potawatomi, seventy-three Miamis and 
Eel Rivers, twelve Weas and Piankeshaws, and ten Kick- 
apoos and Kaskaskias, in all eleven hundred and thirty 
savages. Among the renowned fighting men and chiefs 
present, was Tarhe, of the Wyandots, known as "The 
Crane," who had fought under the Cornstalk at Point 
Pleasant, and who had been badly wounded at the battle 
of Fallen Timbers. He now exercised a mighty influence 
for peace and remained the firm friend of the United 
States. Of the Miamis, the foremost was the Little Tur- 
tle, who was probably the greatest warrior and Indian 
diplomat of his day or time. He had defeated Harmar 
and destroyed St. Clair, but he now stood for an amicable 
adjustment. Next to Little Turtle was LeGris. Of the 
Shawnees, there were Blue Jacket and Catahecassa, or 
the Black Hoof. The latter chieftain had been present 
at Braddock's defeat in 1775, had fought against General 
Andrew Lewis at Point Pleasant in 1774, and was an 
active leader of the Shawnees at the battles with Harmar 
and St. Clair. Blue Jacket had been the principal com- 
mander of the Indian forces at Fallen Timbers. Buck- 
ongahelas, of the Delawares, Au-goosh-away, of the Otta- 
was, Mash-i-pinash-i-wish, of the Chippewas, Keesass and 
' Topenebee, of the Potawatomi, Little Beaver, of the Weas, 
and many other distinguished Indian leaders were among 
the hosts. The chief interpreters were William Wells, 



242 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Jacques Laselle, M. Morins, Sans Crainte, Christopher 
Miller, Abraham Williams and Isaac Zane. 

The basis of the negotiations, steadfastly maintained 
by Wayne, was the treaty of Fort Harmar of 1789. The 
general boundary established was to begin at the mouth 
of the Cuyahoga river, run thence up the same to the 
portage between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas 
branch of the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the 
crossing place above old Fort Laurens, thence westwardly 
to a fork of that branch of the great Miami river running 
into the Ohib, where commenced the portage between the 
St. Marys of the Maumee and the Miami of the Ohio, 
thence westwardly to Fort Recovery, thence southwest- 
erly, in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that 
river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky. The land west of 
the Miami, and within the present limits of western Ohio 
and eastern Indiana, was cut off of the domain of the 
Miamis, and included the line of posts extending from 
Fort Washington to Fort Wayne. It was highly prized 
by the Indians as a hunting ground, and its cession 
caused a loud remonstrance from the Little Turtle. "You 
pointed out to us the boundary line," said the great 
Miami leader, "which crossed a little below Loramie's 
store, and struck Fort Recovery, and run from thence to 
the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. 
Elder Brother; You have told us to speak our minds 
freely, and we now do it. This line takes in the greater 
and best part of your brothers' hunting ground; there- 
fore, your younger brothers are of opinion, you take too 
much of their lands away, and confine the hunting of our 



THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE 243 



young men within limits too contracted. Your brothers, 
the Miamis, the proprietors of these lands, and all your 
younger brothers present, wish you to run the line as you 
mentioned, to Fort Recovery, and to continue it along the 
road from thence to Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami 
river." This, however, Wayne refused to do. The ground 
had been hardly won, and the United States, although 
willing to pay a fair remuneration, was determined to 
protect the outposts and inhabitants of the Ohio country. 

Another controversy arose with the Little Turtle 
concerning the portage at Fort Wayne. The government 
insisted on reservations of from two to six miles square 
at Fort Wayne, Fort Defiance, Ouiatenon, Chicago, and 
other important trading places. A large tract was re- 
served near Detroit, and another near the Post of Mich- 
illimacinac. Clark's Grant was also specially reserved 
by the United States. But when Wayne insisted on a 
tract two miles square on the Wabash river, "at the end 
of the portage from the Miami of the Lake (Maumee) , and 
about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne," the Little 
Turtle claimed that this was a request that neither the 
English nor the French had ever made of them ; that this 
portage had in the past yielded them an important rev- 
enue, and had proved, "in a great degree, the subsistence 
of your younger brothers." The valiant old warrior made 
a stout defense of his claims, and fought to the last for 
all that was dear to him about Fort Wayne, but was 
forced to bow to the superior genius and commanding 
influence of the American general. 

Wayne had on his side two powerful factors. The 



244 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

first, was the treachery of the English, which he dilated 
upon with telling effect. The second, was the command- 
ing influence of Tarhe and the Wyandots of Sandusky, 
who were addressed with deference by the other tribes, 
and who threw all their influence on the side of the treaty. 
At last the several articles were agreed upon, and Gen- 
eral Wayne, calling upon the separate tribes in open 
council for a confirmation of the pact, met with a full 
and unanimous response of approval. One of the originals 
of the treaty was deposited with the Wyandots as the 
custodians of all the nations. At the last arose Tarhe to 
make this touching and final appeal : "Father : Listen to 
your children, here assembled; be strong, now, and take 
care of all your little ones. See what a number you have 
suddenly acquired. Be careful of them, and do not suffer 
them to be imposed upon. Don't show favor to one, to 
the injury of any. An impartial father equally regards 
all his children, as well those who are ordinary, as 
tliose who may be more handsome ; therefore, should any 
of your children come to you crying, and in distress, have 
pity on them, and relieve their wants." 

The tribes were satisfied. A fair price had been paid 
to them for their lands, and satisfactory annuities had 
been granted. Practically all of the leading chiefs re- 
mained loyal to the government, and true to the peace. 
Wayne had proved himself not only successful at war, but 
proficient in diplomacy. 



CHAPTER XVI 

GOVERNOR HARRISpN AND THE TREATY 

— Purchase of the Miami lands known as the New Pur- 
chase ivhich led to the strengthening of Tecumseh's Con- 
federacy, — the final struggle at Tippecanoe. 

In the year 1800, William Henry Harrison was ap- 
pointed by President John Adams as Governor of Indi- 
ana Territory, and he arrived at Vincennes on the tenth 
day of January, 1801, and immediately entered upon the 
discharge of his duties. At that time he was twenty-eight 
years of age, but notwithstanding his youth he had seen 
hard duty as a soldier and officer on the frontier and as 
we have seen, had served as aide-de-camp to General 
Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers. In that struggle 
he had distinguished himself for gallant conduct. At a 
time when a detachment of the troops were wavering 
under the murderous fire of the savages, and hesitating as 
to whether they would advance or retreat, he had galloped 
to the front of the line, and with inspiring words had 
cheered the soldiers on to victory. The report of General 
Wayne says that he "rendered the most essential services 
by communicating his orders in every direction, and by 
his bravery in exciting the troops to press for victory." 

In personal appearance, Harrison "was commanding, 

245 



246 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and his manners prepossessing. He was about six feet 
high, of rather slender form, straight, and of a firm, 
elastic gait, even at the time of his election to the presi- 
dency, though then closely bordering on seventy. He had 
a keen, penetrating eye, denoting quickness of apprehen- 
sion, promptness and energy," 

Though descended from an old and aristocratic fam- 
ily of Virginia, and having been reared amid surround- 
ings of luxury and elegance, the youthful soldier never 
shrank from the most arduous duty and the severest 
hardships of camp or field. At the time of his first ar- 
rival at Fort Washington (Cincinnati), after the defeat 
of St. Clair's army, he had been placed in command of a 
company of men who were escorting packhorses to Fort 
Hamilton. The forest was full of hostile savages, and 
the winter season was setting in with cold rains and 
snow. The company was ill provided with tents and 
Harrison had nothing to shelter him from the weather 
but his uniform and army blanket. He not only eluded 
the attacks of the Indians and convoyed his charge 
through in safety, but made no complaint whatever to 
his commanding general, and received St. Clair's "public 
thanks for the fidelity and good conduct he displayed." 
"During the campaign on the Wabash, the troops were 
put upon a half pound of bread a day. This quantity only 
was allowed to officers of every rank, and rigidly con- 
formed to in the general's own family. The allowance 
for dinner was uniformly divided between the company, 
and not an atom more was permitted. In the severe 
winter campaign of 1812-13, he slept under a thinner tent 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 247 

than any other person, whether officer or soldier; and it 
was the general observation of the officers, that his ac- 
commodations might generally be known by their being 
the worst in the army. Upon the expedition up the 
Thames all his baggage was contained in a valise, while 
his bedding consisted of a single blanket, over his saddle, 
and even this he gave to Colonel Evans, a British officer, 
who was wounded. His subsistence was exactly that of a 
common soldier. On the night after the action upon the 
Thames, thirty-five British officers supped with him upon 
fresh beef roasted before the fire, without either salt or 
bread, and without ardent spirits of any kind. Whether 
upon the march, or in the camp, the whole army was reg- 
ularly under arms at day-break. Upon no occasion did 
he fail to be out himself, however severe the weather, and 
was generally the first officer on horseback of the whole 
army. Indeed, he made it a point on every occasion, to 
set an example of fortitude and patience to the men, and 
share with them every hardship, difficulty and danger." 

Of his personal courage in the presence of great dan- 
ger and peril, there can be no question. Judge Law says : 
"William Henry Harrison was as brave a man as ever 
lived." At Tippecanoe, after the first savage yell, he 
mounted on horseback and rode from line to line encour- 
aging his men, although he knew that he was at all times 
a conspicuous mark for Indian bullets. One leaden mis- 
sile came so close as to pass through the rim of his hat, 
and Colonel Abraham Owen, Thomas Randolph and others 
were killed at his side. "Upon one occasion, as he was 
approaching an angle of the line, against which the In- 



248 -THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

dians were advancing with horrible yells, Lieutenant 
Emmerson of the dragoons seized the bridle of his horse 
and earnestly entreated that he would not go there ; but 
the Governor, putting spurs to his horse, pushed on to the 
point of attack, where the enemy was received with firm- 
ness and driven back." 

To these traits, his fearless courage and willingness 
to share in the burdens and hardships of the common sol- 
dier, may be attributed his great and lasting hold on the \ 
affections of the old Kentucky and southern Indiana 
Indian fighters. To them he was not only a hero, but | 
something almost approaching a demi-god. It is pleasing j 
to remember that when the expedition against the Pro- j 
phet was noised abroad, that Colonel Joseph H. Daviess, 5 
then one of the most eloquent and powerful advocates at 
the Kentucky bar, offered in a personal letter to the 
General, to join the expedition as a private in the ranks; 
that Colonel Abraham Owen, one of the most renowned 
Indian fighters of that day, joined the army voluntarily 
as an aide to its leader, and that Governor Scott, of Ken-^ 
tucky, sent two companies of mounted volunteer infantry 
under Captains Funk and Geiger, to participate in the 
campaign. It is also pleasing to remember that the warm 
affection of the pioneers of that early day was transmitted 
to another and younger generation who grew up long 
after the Indian wars were over, and who gave a rousing 
support to the old general that made him the ninth presi- 
dent of the United States. 

On his arrival at Vincennes in 1801, the population 
of that town was about seven hundred and fourteen per- 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 249 

sons. The surrounding country contained about eight 
hundred and nineteen more, while fifty-five fur-traders 
were scattered along the Wabash, who carried on a traf- 
fic more or less illicit with the Indians. A large part of 
the inhabitants of Vincennes belonged to that class of 
French-Canadians, who produced the La Plantes, the Bar- 
rons, and the Brouillettes of that time, some of them re- 
nowned Indian interpreters and river guides, who figured 
prominently in the scenes and contests that followed. 
The remaining part of the population consisted of set- 
tlers from the states, the more conspicuous being the 
Virginians, who were afterwards denominated as the 
"aristocrats," but who in reality contributed more to the 
growth and prosperity of the frontier posts than any 
other element. From this class of Virginians, some of 
them men of learning and attainment, Harrison selected 
his retainers and henchmen. Chief among them was 
Benjamin Parke, one of the commanders at Tippecanoe, 
and the founder of the State law library in after years ; 
and also Waller Taylor and Thomas Randolph, two of his 
aides in the Wabash campaign and of his immediate mili- 
tary family. These men, together with Harrison, com- 
prised the "inner circle," who administered the affairs 
of Knox County and Vincennes, and at that time Knox 
County held the lead and control in public transactions 
throughout the Territory. That they favored the sus- 
pension of the sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787, 
prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory, is now 
established history. But they also organized the courts 
and the representative assemblies of that day; enacted 
and enforced the public laws, and set about to establish 



250 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

institutions of learning. Harrison in particular was a 
friend of the schools. Besides that, these men and their 
followers organized the militia, gave the woodsmen a 
training in the manual of arms, and exercised a wide- 
awake and eternal vigilance for the safety of the frontier. 
The military instinct of the early Virginian was one of 
the great factors that determined the conquest and estab- 
lished the permanent peace of the new land. 

Probably no magistrate was ever invested with 
greater powers in a new country than was General Har- 
rison in the first years of his governorship. "Amongst 
the powers conferred upon him, were those, jointly with 
the judges, of the legislative functions of the Terri- 
tory; the appointment of all the civil officers within the 
territory, and all the military officers of a grade inferior 
in rank to that of general, commander in chief of the 
militia — the absolute and uncontrolled power of pardon- 
ing all offenses — sole commissioner of treaties with the 
Indians, with unlimited powers, and the power of con- 
firming, at his option, all grants of land." That he was 
left in control of these powers both under the adminis- 
trations of President Jefferson and President Madison is 
sufficient confirmation of the trust and confidence they 
reposed in him. In the years to follow, he was to conduct 
a great number of difficult negotiations with the chiefs 
and head warriors of the Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, 
Potawatomi, Kickapoos and other tribes, but in all these 
treaties he was pre-eminently fair with the savages, 
never resorting to force or treachery, or stooping to low 
intrigue or fraud. We have a statement from his own 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 251 

pen as to his manner of conducting an Indian treaty. In 
a letter from Vincennes on the third day of March, 1803, 
to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, we have the fol- 
lowing: *'I should have passed over without an observa- 
tion, if he had not hinted at the use of unfair means 
in procuring the consent of the Indians to the treaties 
I have made with them, and as I have never before, that 
I recollect, informed you of my mode of proceeding on 
these occasions I have thought it proper to do so at the 
present moment. Whenever the Indians have assembled 
for any public purpose the use of ardent spirits has been 
strictly interdicted until the object for which they were 
convened was accomplished, and if in spite of my vigi- 
lance it had been procured, a stop was immediately put 
to all business until it was consumed and its effects com- 
pletely over. Every conference with the Indians has 
been in public. All persons who chose to attend were 
admitted, and the most intelligent and respectable char- 
acters in the neighborhood specially invited to witness 
the fairness of the transaction. No treaty has ever been 
signed until each article was particularly and repeatedly \ 
explained by the most capable and confidential interpre- ' 
ters. Sketches of the tract of country about to be ceded 
have always been submitted to the Indians, and their own 
rough delineations made on the floor with a bit of char- 
coal have proved their perfect comprehension of its situ- 
ation and extent." Copies of the old Western Sun, amply 
testify to the fact that prior to the important treaties 
of 1809, at Fort Wayne and Vincennes, he issued a public 
proclamation at the latter place, prohibiting any traffic 
in liquor with the Indians, so that their judgment might 



252 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



not be perverted; that he constantly inveighed against 
this illegal commerce with the tribes, and that he at vari- 
ous times attempted to restrain the violence of the squat- 
ters and settlers who sought to appropriate the lands of 
their red neighbors. The language of his first message 
to the territorial legislature reads thus: "The humane 
and benevolent intentions of the government, however, 
will forever be defeated, unless effectual measures be 
devised to prevent the sale of ardent spirits to those un- 
fortunate people. The law which has been passed by 
Congress for that purpose has been found entirely in- 
effectual, because its operation has been construed to 
relate to the Indian country exclusively. In calling your 
attention to this subject, gentlemen, I am persuaded that 
it is unnecessary to remind you that the article of com- 
pact makes it your duty to attend to it. The interests of 
your constituents, the interests of the miserable Indians, 
and your own feelings, will urge you to take it into your 
most serious consideration and provide the remedy which 
is to save thousands of our fellow creatures. So destruc- 
tive has been the progress of intemperance, that whole 
villages have been swept away. A miserable remnant is 
all that remains to mark the homes and situation of many 
numerous and warlike tribes." 

I Again, at Fort Wayne, on the seventeenth of Septem- 
ber, 1809, preliminary to the famous treaty of that year, 
this entry appears in the journal of the official proceed- 
ings: "The Pottawattamies waited on the Governor and 
requested a little liquor, which was refused. The Gov- 
ernor observed that he was determined to shut up the 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TR.^ATY 253 

liquor casks until all the business was finished." This 
is the conduct throughout of a wise and humane man 
dealing with an inferior race, but determined to take no 
advantage of their folly. 

It was the steady and uniform policy of the United 
States government to extinguish the Indian titles to the 
lands along the Wabash and elsewhere, so that they might 
be opened up to the increasing tide of white settlers. Con- 
trary to the practices of most governments, however, in 
their dealings with aborigines, the United States had 
established the precedent of recognizing the right of the 
red men to the occupancy of the soil and of entering into 
treaties of purchase with the various tribes, paying them 
in goods and money for their land, while allowing them 
the privilege of taking wild game in the territory ceded. 
President Jefferson had always insisted on the payment 
of annuities in these purchases, instead of a lump sum, 
so that a fund might be created for the continual support 
of the tribes from year to year, and so that they might 
be enabled to purchase horses, cattle, hogs and the in- 
struments of husbandry and thus gradually enter upon 
the ways of civilization. That the dream of Jefferson was 
never realized; that the North American savages never 
adopted the manners and pursuits of their white brethren, 
does not bespeak any the less for the humane instincts of 
his heart. 

In the negotiation of these treaties in the northwest. 
Governor Harrison acted as the minister plenipotentiary 
of the government, and the numerous Indian treaties of 
that day were conducted under express authority and 



\ 
254 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



command from the City of Washington. The series of 
negotiations finally terminated in the Treaty of Fort 
Wayne on September 30, 1809, by which the United States 
acquired the title to about 2,900,000 acres, the greater 
part of which lay above the old Vincennes tract ceded by 
the Treaty of Grouseland, and below the mouth of Big 
Raccoon Creek in Parke County. "At that period, 1809," 
says Dillon, "the total quantity of land ceded to the United 
States, under treaties which were concluded between Gov- 
ernor Harrison and various Indian tribes, amounted to 
about 29,719,530 acres." ^ 

As the consummation of that treaty was the prin- 
cipal and immediate cause which led up to the great con- 
troversy with Tecumseh, and the stirring events that fol- 
lowed, including the Battle of Tippecanoe, and as the 
charge was subsequently made by Tecumseh that it was 
brought about through the threats of Winamac, the Pota- 
watomi chief, it may rightfully be said to be the most 
important Indian treaty ever negotiated in the west, out- 
side of General Wayne's Treaty of Greenville, in 1795. 
We will now enter into the details of that transaction. 

That part of the lands acquired by the United States 
Government by the Treaty of Fort Wayne, and being situ- 
ated in the valley of the Wabash and its tributaries may 
be thus described : It lay south of a line drawn from the 
mouth of the Big Raccoon Creek, in what is now Parke 
bounty, and extending southeast to a point on the east 
fork of White River above Brownstown. This line was 
commonly called The Ten O'clock Line, because the direc- 
tion was explained to the Indians as toward the point 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 255 

where the sun was at ten o'clock. The whole territory- 
acquired in the Wabash valley and elsewhere embraced 
about 2,900,000 acres and in the Wabash region was to 
be not less than thirty miles in width at its narrowest 
point. It will thus be seen that the tract lay directly 
north of, and adjoining the white settlements in and 
about Vincennes. It was afterwards known as the New 
Purchase. 

There had been frequent and bitter clashes between 
the settlers and the Wea and Potawatomi Indians of this 
part of the territory for years. Justice and right was 
not always on the side of the white man. An accurate 
commentator, speaking of the early frontiersmen, says: 
"They eagerly craved the Indian lands; they would not 
be denied entrance to the thinly-peopled territory wherein 
they intended to make homes for themselves and their 
children. Rough, masterful, lawless, they were neither 
daunted by the powers of the red warriors whose wrath 
they braved, nor awed by the displeasure of the govern- 
ment whose solemn engagements they violated." 

The Treaty of Greenville had given the undisputed 
possession and occupancy of all the lands above 
Vincennes and vicinity, and embraced within the limits 
of the territory ceded by the Treaty of Fort Wayne, to 
the Indians. They were given the authority by that pact 
to drive off a squatter or "punish him in such manner as 
they might think fit," indulging, however, in no act of 
"private revenge or retaliation." No trader was even 
allowed to enter this domain unless he was licensed by 
the government. 



256 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

It is needless to say that no fine sense of right and 
justice existed either in the mind of the white land-grab- 
ber or in that of his red antagonist. Many unlawful in- 
vasions of the Indian lands were made. Moreover, many 
of the fur traders along the Wabash were of the lowest 
type of humanity. They employed any and all means to 
cheat and defraud the Indians by the barter and sale of 
cheap trinkets and bad whiskey and often violated every 
principle of honesty and fair-dealing. This kind of con- 
duct on the part of settlers and traders furnished ample 
justification in the minds of the ignorant savages for the 
making of reprisals. Many horses were stolen by them, 
and often foul murders were committed by the more law- 
less element. This horse-stealing and assassination led 
in turn to counter-attacks on the part of the whites. In 
time, these acts of violence on the part of the vicious ele- 
ment in both races spread hate and enmity in every direc- 
tion. This kind of history was made. "A Muskoe Indian 
was killed in Vincennes by an Italian inn-keeper without 
any just cause. The governor ordered that the murderer 
should be apprehended, but so great was the antagonism 
to the Indians among all classes, that on his trial the jury 
acquitted the homicide almost without any deliberation. 
About the same time, two Wea Indians were badly wound- 
ed near Vincennes by some whites without the slightest 
provocation. Such facts exasperated the Indians, and led 
to their refusal to deliver up Indians who had committed 
like offenses against the white man." These things oc- 
curred shortly prior to the Tippecanoe campaign, but a 
condition similar to this had existed for some time before 
the Treaty of Fort Wayne. The Governor was not insen- 




Governor William Henry Harrison 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 257 

sible to the true state of affairs. He once said : " I wish 
I could say the Indians were treated with justice and 
propriety on all occasions by our citizens, but it is far 
otherwise. They are often abused and maltreated, and it 
is rare that they obtain any satisfaction for the most un- 
provoked wrongs." But he also recognized the fact, that 
the two races, so incompatible in habits, manners, cus- 
toms and tastes, could not dwell in peace together; that 
the progress of the white settlements ought not to and 
could not on that account be stayed ; that it was up to him 
as the chief magistrate of the western country and as 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to solve if he could, the 
troublous problem before him, and he accordingly in- 
structed Mr. John Johnston, the Agent of Indian Affairs, 
to assemble the tribes at Fort Wayne for the purpose of 
making a new treaty. 

There were many false sentimentalists of that day, 
who not unlike their modern brethren, wept many croco- 
dile tears over the fate of the "poor Indian." They charg- 
ed that the Governor, in the ensuing negotiations, resorted 
to trickery, and that he availed himself of the threats and 
violence of Winamac, the Potawatomi chief, in order to 
bring the hesitating tribes to the terms of the purchase. 
In the face of the revealed and undisputed facts of his- 
tory, these facts were and are entirely false, and were 
evidently put in motion by the disgruntled office seekers 
at Vincennes as food for the foolish. 

The position of Governor Harrison during the whole 
course of his administration seems to have been this : he 
sought to ameliorate the miserable condition of the sav- 



258 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ages at all times ; sought by all means within his power to 
bring to punishment those who committed outrages 
against them; constantly demanded that the illegal traf- 
fic in liquor be stopped. However, neither Governor Har- 
rison nor any other man, however powerful, could stop 
the hand of fate, or abrogate the eternal law of the sur- 
vival of the fittest. After every endeavor to put a stop 
to abuses, and to quiet the impending storm on the fron- 
tier, he resorted to the next, and seemingly only avail- 
able means of putting an end to the difficulty. That is, 
he provided for the separation of the two races as far 
as possible so as to prevent the conflicts between them; 
he provided for the payment of annuities for their sup- 
port and so that they might purchase horses and cattle 
and implements of husbandry, and thus enter gradually 
upon the pursuits of peace. That the plan was not'feas- 
ible does not detract from the fairness and benevolence 
of the proposer. He was but following the uniform cus- 
tom which the government had at that time adopted and 
which the best minds of that age endorsed. He could not 
foresee, in the light of that day, that the red men of the 
forest would not accept the ways of civilization, and that 
all attempts of the government, however charitable, would 
be wasted and in vain. , 

The Governor set out for the council house at old 
Fort Wayne on the first day of September, 1809, on horse- 
back, and accompanied only by Peter Jones, his secretary; 
a personal servant; Joseph Barron, a famous Indian in- 
terpreter; a Frenchman for a guide, and two Indians, 
probably Delawares of the friendly White River tribes. 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 259 

He travelled eastwardly toward the western borders of 
Dearborn county, and thence north to the Post. Joseph 
Barron, the interpreter, is thus spoken of by Judge Law : 
"He knew the Indian character well ; he had lived among 
them many years; spoke fluently the language of every 
jribe which dwelt on the upper Wabash, understood their 
customs, habits, manners and charlatanry well, and al- 
though but imperfectly educated, was one of the most 
remarkable men I ever knew." 

The Governor arrived at the Post on the fifteenth of 
the month, at the same time with the Delawares and their 
interpreter, John Conner. 

To appreciate property the hazard of this journey of 
two weeks through an untamed wilderness, across rivers 
and through dense forests, camping at night in the soli- 
tude of the woods, and exposed at all time to the attacks 
of the savages, one must take into consideration that al- 
ready Tecumseh and the Prophet were forming their con- 
federacy and preaching a new crusade at Tippecanoe; 
that they were fast filling the minds of their savage hear- 
ers with that fierce malice and hatred which was to 
break forth in the flame of revolt in a little over two 
years hence; that the British agents at Maiden were 
loading the Indians with presents and filling their ears 
with falsification as to the intentions of Harrison; that 
they were already arming them with guns, bullets, knives 
and tomahawks, and that there were those among them 
who would not hesitate at assassination, if they might 
hope to reap a British reward. Notwithstanding these 
facts, Harrison did not hesitate. 



260 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

The scene about to be enacted was a memorable one. 
On the one hand were arrayed the Governor, with his 
servant and secretary, four Indian interpreters and a 
few officers of the Post; on the other, the painted and 
feather-bedecked warriors and sachems of the Miamis, 
the Potawatomi, the Delawares and the Weas. On the 
third da^ of the council, eight hundred and ninety-two 
warriors' were present; on the day of the actual signing 
of the treaty, thirteen hundred and ninety. No such body 
of red men had been assembled to meet a commissioner 
of the United States since the treaty with Anthony Wayne 
in 1795. Even at that assemblage there were present only 
eleven hundred and thirty. / 

/" There were chiefs of the Mississinewa, loud and defi- 
ant, who openly declared their connection with the 
British. There was Winamac, the Potawatomi, who 
afterwards slaughtered the surrendered garrison at Fort 
Dearborn, and boasted of his murder. There were Sil- 
ver Heels and Pecan, Five Medals and The Owl. But 
above them all stood Little Turtle, the Miami. He had 
been present at the defeat of Harmar and the slaughter of 
St. Clair's army. He had fought against Wayne at Fallen 
Timbers. In 1797 he had visited the great white father 
at Philadelphia, President Washington, and had been pre- 
sented with a brace of elegantly mounted pistols by the 
Baron Kosciusko. There were braves present whose 
hands had been besmeared with the blood of innocent 
women and children— who had raised the savage yell of 
terror while setting firebrands to the cabin and toma- 
hawking its inmates. 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 261 

During the days that were to follow there were many 
loud and violent harangues; parties of warriors arrived 
with presents of the British emissaries in their hands, and 
saying that they had been advised never to yield another 
foot of territory ; at one time, on September twenty-sixth, 
the Potawatomi, in open assembly, raised a shout of defi- 
ance against jtheMiamis, poured out torrents of abuse on 
the heads of their chieftains and withdrew from the 
council declaring that the tomahawk was raised. Amid 
all this loud jangling and savage quarreling the Governor 
remained unperturbed and steady to his purpose. Not- 
withstanding frequent demands, he constantly refused to 
deal out any liquoj^ except in the most meager quantities 
— ^he restrained the Potawatomi and made them smoke 
the pipe of peace with their offended allies — he met and 
answered all the arguments suggested by the British 
agents — and after fifteen days of constant and unremit- 
ting effort won over the chiefs of the Mi^ssissinewa and 
gained the day. 

The official account of the proceedings as made by 
Peter Jones', secretary to the Governor, and now reposing 
in the archives of the United States government, shows 
that instead of attempting to make any purchase of In- 
dian lands when only a small number of representatives 
of the tribes were present, that the Governor on the eigh- 
teenth of September, dispatched messengers to Detroit 
to summon certain Delawares and Potawatomi who were 
absen t ; that on the same day he also directed Joseph 
Barron to go to the Miami villages along the Wabash to 
call in Richar dville, one of the principal chiefs of that 



262 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

tribe. The records also show that while the Governor 
had some private conferences with some of the principal 
chiefs for the purpose of urging their support to his 
plans, that he addressed all his principal remarks to the 
tribes in open council of all the warriors, and at a time 
when four interpreters were present, to-wit; William 
Wells, Joseph Barron, John Conner and Abraham Ash, 
to translate his observations. 

The first of these great councils was on September 
^ 22. The arguments of the Governor, so interesting at this 
day, are set forth : "He urged the vast benefit which they 
(the Indians) derived from their annuities, without which 
they would not be able to clothe their women and children. 
The great advance in the price of goods and the depression 
in the value of their peltries from the trouble in Europe, 
to which there was no probability of a speedy determina- 
tion. The little game which remained in their country, 
particularly that part of it which he proposed to pur- 
chase. The usurpation of it by a banditti of Muscoes and 
other tribes; that the sale of it would not prevent their 
^ hunting upon it as long as any game remained. But that 
it was absolutely necessary that they should adopt some 
other plan for their support. That the raising of cattle 
and hogs required little labor, and would be the surest 
resources as a substitute for the wild animals which they 
had so unfortunately destroyed for the sake of their skins. 
Their fondness for hunting might still be gratified if 
they would prevent their young men from hunting at im- 
proper seasons of the year. But to do this effectually, it 
would be necessary that they should find a certain sup- 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 263 



port in their villages in the summer season. That the 
proposed addition to their annuities would enable them 
to purchase the domestic animals necessary to commence 
raising them on a large scale. He observed also that they 
were too apt to impute their poverty and the scarcity of 
game to the encroachments of the white settlers. But 
this is not the true cause. It is owing to their own im- 
providence and to the advice of the British traders by 
whom they were stimulated to kill the wild animals for 
their ski ns alone, when the flesh was not wanted. That 
this was the cause of their scarcity is evident from their 
being found in much greater quantity on the south than 
on the north shore of the Wabash, where no white men 
but traders were ever seen. The remnant of the Wea^ 
who inhabit the tract of country which was wanted, were 
from their vicinity to the whites, poor and miserable; all 
the proceeds of their hunts and the great part of their 
annuities expended in whiskey. The Miami Nation would\ 
be more respectable and formidable if its scattered mem- 
bers were assembled in the center of their cou ntry." 7 

The reasoning of the Governor was cogent. The mo- 
tive that had prompted the British to hold the frontier 
posts for so many years after the revolution, was to 
secure a monopoly of the fur trade. Their traders con- 
stantly urged the tribes to bring in peltries, and this 
led to a merciless slaughter of animals for their hides 
alone. These measures involved the ultimate destruction 
of the food supply of the tribes. It was also true that the 
tribes along the Wabash were exhausting the supply of 
wild game. The plan of inducing them to accept annuities 



264 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and to purchase cattle, hogs and other domestic animals 
for the purpose of replenishing their food supply, seemed 
highly plausible to the minds of that day. That the Weaj 
on thejower Wabash would be better off if removed from 
the" immediate neighborhood of the white settlements 
where they could purchase fire-water and indulge their 
viceSi did not admit of doubt. It was possibly the only 
plan'of bringing relief from the troubles which were 
daily augmenting between the two races of men. 

From the first, however, the appeal of the Governor 
jnet with a cold reception at the hands of the Mississinewa 
^chiefs. That their feelings in the matter were prompted 
by their jealousy of the other tribes present, and their 
claim to the sole disposal of any of the lands along the 
Wabash, there can be no doubt. Little Turtle was soon 
won over, but the younger and more aggressive chiefs 
of the Miami villages were hostile to him and openly ex- 
pressed their disapproval of his conduct. The Mississin- 
ewa chiefs were also violently opposed to the pretensions 
of Winamac and the Potawatomi. They claimed that the 
Potawatomi were new comers and usurpers and had no 
right to a voice in the sale of lands in the Wabash valley. 
The Mississinewa chiefs prevailed. On the twenty-fourth 
the Miamis, "declared their determination not to sell a 
foot of land, observing that it was time to put a stop to 
the encroachments of the whites who were eternally pur- 
chasing their lands for less than the real value of them. 
That they had also heard that the governor had no instruc- 
tions to make any purchase, but was making it upon his 
own authority to please the white people whom he govern- 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 265 

ed." On the twenty-fifth, the Governor, to overcome their 
opposition, made another long appeal in open council, de- 
claring that the British alone were responsible for the 
feeling between the races. On that occasion he gave ex- 
pression to certain ideas that Tecumseh afterwards eager- 
ly seized upon as an argument in favor of the communistic 
ownership of all the Indian lands, and as an argument 
/^gainst the salej)f 1809. The governor said : "Pottawat- 

^ tamies and Miamis, look upon each other as brothers, 
and at the same time look upon your grandfathers, the 

^Delawares. I love to see you all united. I wish to hear 
you speak with one voice the dictates of one heart. All 
must go together. The consent of all is necessary. Dela- 
wares and Pottawattamies, I told you that I could do 
nothing with the Miamis without your consent. Miamis, 
I now tell 3^ou that nothing can be done without your 
consent. The consent of the whole is necessary." 

This second appeal met with the same reception as 
the first. On the twenty-sixth, the Miamis, again declared 
that they would never consent to the sale of any more of 
their lands. "That they had been advised by their Father, 
the British, never to sell another foot." At this moment 
it was that the Potawatomi started a violent altercation, 
setting up a shout of open defiance in the council house 
and threatening to resort to force. On repairing to the 
Governor's headquarters, however, and reporting their 
conduct, Harrison, "blamed them for their rashness and 
made them promise not to offer the Miamis any further 
insults." 

On the evening of the same day, the Governor held an- 



266 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

other extended conference with the Miami chiefs, and ex- 
plained to them that the British were to blame for all 
their troubles. His remarks were prophetic. He said: 
"In case of a war with the latter (the Americans) , the 
English knew that they were unable to defend Canada 
with their own force ; they were therefore desirous of in- 
terposing the Indians between them and danger." The 
death of Tecumseh in the British ranks was part of the 
fulfillment of this prediction. 

All the conferences proved in vain. On the twenty- 
seventh, Silver Heels, a Miami chief, was won over and 
spoke in favor of the treaty, and Harrison succeeded on 
the twenty-eighth in reconciling the Miami s and Potawat- 
omi, but in full council on the twenty-ninth, T he Ow l, a 
Miami chief, flatly refused to sell an acre ; made a bitter 
and sarcastic speech, and among other things said ; "You 
remember the time when we first took each other by the 
hand at Greenville. You there told us where the line 
would be between us. You told us to love our women and 
children and to take care of our lands. You told us that 
the Spanish had a great deal of money, the English, and 
some of your people likewise, but that we should not sell 
our lands to any of them. In consequence of which last 
fall we put our hands upon our hearts and determined not 
to sell our lands." Harrison answered in a speech of two 
hours length, and ended by saying, "that he was tired 
of waiting and that on the next day he would submit to 
them the form of a treaty which he wished them to sign 
and if they would not agree to it he would extinguish the 
council fire." 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 267 

We now come to a circumstance which refutes much 
that Tecumseh afterwards claimed. In his famous meet- 
ing with the Governor at Vincennes in August, 1810, and 
speaking of the treaty of 1809, he said: "Brother, this 
land that was sold, and the goods that were given for it 
were only done by a few. The treaty was afterwards 
brought here, and the Weas were induced to give their 
consent because of their small numbers. The treaty at 
Fort Wayne was made through the threats of Winnemac; 
but in the future we are prepared to punish those chiefs 
who may come forward to propose to sell the land." The 
record of the official proceedings, made at the time, show, 
however, that immediately upon the close of Harrison's 
last speech of September twenty-ninth, that Winamac 
arose to reply, but upon noting that fact all the Mississ- 
inewa Miami s left the council house in contempt. Not 
only was the treaty of 1809 concluded by a larger number 
of Indians than were present at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, 
but the influence of Winamac with the Miamis seems to 
have been of a very negligible quantity. 

The truth is that the final consummation of the pact of 
1809 was brought about by the ready tact and hard com- 
mon sense of Harrison himself. On the morning of the 
thirtieth of September, the very day the treaty was sign- 
ed, it was thought by all the officers and gentlemen pres- 
ent that the mission of the Governor was fruitless. No 
solution of the obstinacy of the Mississinewa chiefs had 
been discovered. Nothing daunted, Harrison resolved to 
make one more attempt. He took with him his interpret- 
er, Joseph Barron, a man in whom he had the utmost 
confidwice, and visited the camps of the Miamis. He was 



268 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

received well and told them that he came, not as a repre- 
sentative of the President, but as an old friend with whom 
they had been many years acquainted. "That he plainly 
saw that there was something in their hearts which was 
not consistent with the attachment they ought to bear to 
their great father, and that he was afraid that they had 
listened to bad birds. That he had come to them for the 
purpose of hearing every cause of complaint against the 
United States, and that he would not leave them until 
they laid open everything that oppressed their hearts. 
He knew that they could have no solid objection to the 
proposed treaty, for they were all men of sense and re- 
flection, and all knew that they would be greatly benefited 
by it." Callijig then, upon the principal chief of the Eel 
River tribej^'who had served under him in General Wayne's 
army, he demanded to know what his objections to the 
treaty were. In reply, the chief drew forth a copy of the 
Treaty of Grouseland and said : "Father, here are your 
own words. In this paper you have promised that you 
tvvould consider the Miamis as the owners of the land on 
the Wabash. Why then, are you about to purchase it 
from others?" 

"The Governor assured them that it was not his in- 
tention to purchase the land from the other tribes. That 
he had always said, and was ready now to confess that 
the land belonged to the Miamis and to no other tribe. 
That if the other tribes had been invited to the treaty, it 
was at their particular request (the Miamis) . The Pota- 
watomi had indeed taken higher ground than either the 
Governor or the Miamis expected. They claimed an equal 



GOVERNOR HARRISON AND THE TREATY 269 

right to the land in question with the Miamis, but what 
of this? Their claiming it gave them no right, and it was 
not the intention of the Governor to put anything in the 
treaty which would in the least alter their claim to their 
lands on the Wabash, as established by the Treaty of 
Grouseland, unless they chose to satisfy the Delawares 
with respect to their claim to the country watered by the 
V White river. That even the whole compensation propos- 
ed to be given for the lands would be given to the Miamis 
if they insisted upon it, but that they knew the offense 
which this would give to the other tribes, and that it was 
always the Governor's intention so to draw the treaty that 
the Potawatomi and Delawares would be considered as 
participating in the advantages of the treaty as allies of 
th£ Miamis; not as having any rights to the_land." 

The Governor's resourcefulness saved the day. There 
was an instant change of sentiment and a brightening of 
the dark faces. The claim of the Miamis acknowledged ; 
their savage pride appeased, and their title to the land 
verified, they were ready for the treaty. Pecan, the chief, 
informed the Governor that he might retire to the fort 
and that they would shortly wait upon him with good 
news. The treaty was immediately drafted, and on the 
same day signed and sealed by the headmen and chiefs 
without further dissent. 

Thus was concluded the Treaty of Fort Wayne of 
September 30, 1809."^ The articles were fully considered 
and signed only after due deliberation of at least a fort- 
night. The terms were threshed out in open council, be- 
fore the largest assembly of red men ever engaged in a 



270 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

treaty in the western country up to that time. No undue 
influence, fraud or coercion were brought to bear — every 
attempt at violence was promptly checked by the Govern- 
or — no resort was had to the evil influence of bribes or 
intoxicants. When agreed upon, it was executed without 
question. 



CHAPTER XVII 

RESULTS OF THE TREATY 

— Harrison's political enemies at Vincennes rally against 
him in the open, and are defeated in the courts. 

The Treaty of Fort Wayne having been consummated 
and certain disputes relative to horse-stealing and other 
depredations having been arranged between the two 
races, the Governor, on the fourth of October, 1809, set 
out on his return to Vincennes, He travelled on horse- 
back, accompanied by his secretary and interpreter, pass- 
ing through the Indian villages at the forks of the Wabash 
and striking the towns of the Miamis at the mouth of the 
^Mississinewa. Here dwelt John B. Richardville, or Pesh- 
^ ewah, a celebrated chief of that tribe, who was later chos- 
en as principal sachem on the death of Little Turtle. 
Richardville had not been personally present at Fort 
Wayne, but he now received the Governor cordially, and 
gave his unqualified approval to the previous proceedings. 

The day before his arrival at Peshewah's town, the 
Governor met with a singular experience, which not only 
served to illustrate the advancing ravages of liquor among 
the tribes but Harrison's intimate knowledge of Indian 
laws, customs and usages. On coming into the camp of 
Pecan, a Mississinewa chieftain, he discovered that one 

271 



272 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

of the warriors had received a mortal wound in a ''drunk- 
en frolic" of the preceding evening. The chiefs informed 
him that the slayer had not been apprehended, where- 
upon the Governor recommended that if the act "should 
appear to have proceeded from previous malice," that the 
offender should be punished, "but if it should appear 
to be altogether accident, to let him know it, and he would 
assist to make up the matter with the friends of the de- 
ceased." The payment of wergild or "blood-money" 
among the Indian tribes in compensation of the loss of 
life or limb, is strongly in accord with the ancient Saxon 
law, yet it seems to have prevailed as far back at least 
as the time of William Penn, for in one of his letters de- 
scribing the aborigines of America, he says : "The justice 
they (the Indians) have is pecuniary; in case of any 
wrong or evil fact, be it murder itself, they atone by feasts 
and presents of their wampum, which is proportioned to 
the offense, or person injured, or of the sex they are of; 
for, in case they kill a woman, they pay double, and the 
reason they render, is that she can raise children, which 
men cannot do." Later on, at Vincennes, the Governor had 
another and similar experience which affords additional 
proof that the custom above mentioned was still prevalent. 
A Potawatomi chieftain from the prairies came in at- 
tended by some young men. He found there about one 
hundred and fifty of the Kickapoos, who were receiving 
their annuity, and he immediately made complaint to the 
Governor as follows: "My Father," said he, "it is now 
twelve moons since these people, the Kickapoos, killed 
my brother; I have never revenged it, but they have 
promised to cover up his blood, but they have not done it. 



RESULTS OF THE TREATY 273 

I wish you to tell them, my father, to pay me for my bro- 
ther, or some of them will lose their hair before they go 
from this." The Governor accordingly advised the chief 
of the Kickapoos to satisfy the Potawatomi. On the fol- 
lowing day the latter again called upon the Governor, and 
said : "See there, my father," showing three blankets and 
some other articles, "see what these people have offered 
me for my brother, but my brother was not a hog that I 
should take three blankets for him," and he declared his 
intention of killing some of them unless they would satisfy 
him in the way he proposed. The Governor, upon inquiry, 
finding that the goods of the Kickapoos were all distribu- 
ted, directed, on account of the United States, that a small 

addition be made to what he had received. 

/ 

V 

At the villages on Eel river the Governor met with 
certain of the Weas of the lower region, and dispatched 
them to summon their chiefs to meet with him at Vincen- 
nes and ratifyjthe treaty. He arrived at the latter place 
on the twelfth of October, having been absent for a per- 
iod of about six weeks, and found that the complete suc- 
cess of his mission had restored in a large measure that 
popularity which he had beforetime lost on account of his 
advocacy of slavery. The acquisition was heralded far 
and wide as a measure calculated in all respects to for- 
ward the interests of the Territory. Not only was the 
total domain acquired, vast in acreage, (being computed 
at about 2,900,000 acres) , but it was considered extremely 
fertile, well watered, and as containing salt springs and 
valuable mines. Once the Weas and other tribes were re- 
moved from close proximity to the settlements, it was con- 



274 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fidently expected that the old clashes would cease and 
that the new territory would be speedily surveyed and 
opened up for entry and purchase to within twelve miles 
of the mouth of the Vermilion. The Indians also, seemed 
well satisfied. The Potawatomi had been urgent; Rich- 
ardville, Little Turtle and all the Miamis had given their 
consent ; the Wea,s and Kickapoos were about to ratify. 

Nothing was then heard of the pretensions of the 
Shawnee Prophet or his abler brother. In a message to 
the territorial legislature in 1810, reviewing the events 
of this period, Harrison said: "It was not until eight 
months after the conclusion of the treaty, and after his 
design of forming a combination against the United 
States had been discovered and defeated, that the pre- 
tensions of the Prophet, in regard to the land in question, 
were made known. A furious clamor was then raised 
by the foreign agents among us, and other disaffected 
persons, against the policy which had excluded 
from the treaty this great and influential character, as 
he is termed, and the doing so expressly attributed to 
the personal ill-will on the part of the negotiator. No 
such ill-will did in fact exist. I accuse myself, indeed, of 
an error in the patronage and support which I afforded 
him on his arrival on the Wabash, before his hostility to 
the United States had been developed. But on no prin- 
ciple of propriety or policy could he have been made a 
party to the treaty. The personage, called the Prophet, is 
not a chief of the tribe to which he belongs, but an out- 
cast from it^ rejected and hated by the real chiefs, the 
principal of whom was present at the treaty, and not only 



RESULTS OF THE TREATY 275 

y 

disclaimed on the part of his tribe any title to the land 
ceded, but used his personal influence with the chiefs 
of the other tribes to effect the cession." / 

The "principal chief" of the Shawnees above alluded 
to was undoubtedly Black Hoof, or Catahecassa, who at 
this time lived in the first town of that tribe, at Wapakon- 
etta, Ohio. Being near to Fort Wayne he had no doubt 
attended the great council at that place. He had been a 
renowned warrior, as already shown, and had been present 
at Braddock's Defeat, at Point Pleasant, and at St. Clair's 
disaster, but when Anthony Wayne conquered the In- 
dians at Fallen Timbers, Black Hoof had given up, and 
he had afterwards remained steadfast in his allegiance 
to the United States government. When Tecumseh after- 
wards attempted to form his confederacy, he met with a 
firm and steady resistance from Black Hoof, and his in- 
fluence was such that no considerable body of the Shaw- 
nees ever joi ned t he Prophet's camp. Black Hoof died in 
1831 at the advanced age of one hundred and ten years, 
and tradition says that like Moses, "his eye was not dim ; 
nor his natural force abated." The fact that Black Hoof, 
who was of great fame among his tribe, as both orator 
and statesman, made no claim to any of the lands sold be- 
low jthe Vermilion, is strong cumulative proof of the 
assertion afterwards made by Harrison to Tecumseh, that 
any c laims of his tribe to the lands on the Wabash were 
without foundation. 



The personal admirers and intimate associates of 
Harrison, were, of course, overjoyed. They were no doubt 
influenced to some extent by the fact that another long 



276 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

lease of power was in sight. Their leader's victory would 
inure to their own benefit. Still, there were no cravens 
among them. A banquet followed, participated m by a 
number of the leading citizens of the town and adjacent 
country. Judge Henry Vanderburgh, of the Territorial 
Court, presided, and toasts were drank to the treaty, Gov- 
ernor Harrison, his secretary, Peter Jones, and the 
"honest interpreter" Joseph Barron. Of those present 
on that occasion, some were afterwards officers at Tippe- 
canoe, and one, Thomas Randolph, fell at the side of his 
chief. 

There were those, however, who were not to be silen- 
ced by the Governor's triumph. The political battles of 
that time were extremely vitriolic, and the fights over 
territorial politics had been filled with hate. Certain foes 
of the Governor not only appeared in Knox county, but | 
eventually in the halls of the national congress, and there 
were those who did not hesitate to question the Governor's 
integrity. Among those who bitterly opposed Harrison 
was one William Mcintosh, "a Scotchman of large prop- 
erty at Vincennes, who had been for many years hostile to 
the Governor, and who was not believed to be very partial 
to the government of the United States." Harrison terms 
him as a "Scotch Tory." One John Small made an affida- 
vit before Judge Benjamin Parke that prior to the year 
1805, Mcintosh had been on good terms with Harrison, 
but that Harrison's advocacy of a representative gov- 
ernment for the territory, or its advancement to the sec- 
ond grade, had turned him into an enemy. However this 
may be, Harrison and his friends, in order to vindicate 



RESULTS OF THE TREATY 277 

/ 
his fame at home and abroad, now resolved to bring an 

action for damages^ in the territorial courts against Mc- 
intosh, "for having asserted that he had cheated the In- 
dians, in the last treaty which had been made with them 
at Fort Wayne." The suit being brought to issue, it was 
found that of the territorial judges then on the bench, one, 
probably Judge Parke, was a personal friend of 
the Governor, and one a personal friend of Mcintosh. 
These gentlemen, therefore, both retired, and the Hon- 
orable Waller Taylor, who had recently come into the 
territory assumed the ermine. A jury was selected by the 
court naming two elisors, who in turn selected a panel 
of forty-eight persons, from which the plaintiff and de- 
fendant each struck twelve, and from the remaining 
twenty-four the jury was drawn by lot. With this "struck 
jury," the cause proceeded to a hearing. The following 
account, given in Dawson's Harrison, will prove of inter- 
est: "Before a crowded audience, this interesting trial 
was continued from ten A. M., till one o'clock at night. 
Every person concerned in the Indian Department, or who 
could know anything of the circumstances of the late 
treaty at Fort Wayne, was examined, and every latitude 
that was asked for, or attempted by the defendant, in the 
examination, permitted. Finding that the testimony of 
all the witnesses went to prove the justice and integrity of 
the Governor's conduct in relation to everything connected 
with the Indian Department, the defendant began to ask 
questions relating to some points of his civil administra- 
tion. To this the jury as well as the court objected, the 
latter observing that it was necessary that the examina- 
tion should be confined to the matter at issue. But at 



278 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the earnest request of the Governor the defendant was 
permitted to pursue his own course and examine the wit- 
nesses upon every point which he might think proper. 
The defendant's counsel, abandoning all idea of justifica- 
tion, pleaded only for a mitigation of damages. After a 
retirement of one hour the jury returned a verdict of 
$4 000 damages. To pay this sum, a large amount of the 
defendant's lands were exposed for sale, and m the Gov- 
ernor's absence in the command of the army the ensumg 
year, was bought in by his_agent. Two-thirds of his 
property has since been returned^to Mcintosh and the re- 
maining part given to some of the orphajLchildren of 
those distinguished citizens who fell a sacrifice to their 
patriotism in the last war." 

The head chief of the Weas at this time was Lapous- 
sier, whose name would indicate that he was of French ex- 
traction. He arrived at Vincennes on the fifteenth day 
of October, with fifteen warriors and was l^ter followed 
by Negro Legs! Little Eyes^and ShawanoeYwho came in 
with other companies of the tribe. On the twenty-f ourthJ 
• the Governor assembled them for the purpose, as he statedf 
of ascertaining whether they "were in a situation to un- 
derstand the important business he had to lay before 
them " He said that he had shut up the liquor casks, but 
that he found that his proclamation prohibiting the sale 
of liquor had been disobeyed. He was glad to find how- 
ever that they were sober, and expressed a wish that they 
would not drink any more while the deliberations were 
in progress. Oh the twenty-fifth he explained fully all 
the provisions" of the Treaty of Fort Wayne, the benefit 



RESULTS OF THE TREATY 279 



the Weas would derive from an increase in their annuity, 
and the removal from the vicinity of the settlements to 
the neighborhood of their brothers, the Miamis, who lived 
farther up the river. He also told them that they would 
be granted the same amount of goods in hand received by 
the larger tribes, on account of the inconvenience they 
would suffer by moving from their present habitations. 
The Governor's conduct in refusing to negotiate while any 
evidences of liquor were manifest was in strict keeping 
with his attitude at Fort Wayne, and his generous treat- 
ment of a smaller and weaker tribe certainly redounds 
to his credit. The Treaty of Fort Wayne was duly 
ratified and approved on the twenty-sixth day of October, 
1809, and^he convention was signed by Lapoussier and all 
the Wea chieftains without a single dissent. 

Only one tribe now remained who had any manner 
of claim to any of the lands in the Wabash valley. This 
tribe was the K ickapoos , who lived at the mouth of the 
Vermilion jriver and in that part of Indiana now com- 
prising practically all of Vermilion county and parts of 
Warren and Parke. Accordingly a treaty was concluded 
with them at Vincennes on the ninth of December, 1809, 
whereby they fully ratified all the proceedings at Fort 
Wayne, and further ceded to the United States "all that 
tract of land which lies above the tract above ceded (the 
north line of which was Raccoon creek), the Wabash, the 
Vermilion river, and a line to be drawn from the north cor- 
ner of said ceded tract, so as to strike the Vermilion river 
at a distance of twenty miles in a direct line from its 
mouth." Among the interesting names attached as wit- 
nesses to the articles is that of Hyacinthe Laselle.''' 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 

—The Prophet as an Indian Priest and Tecumseh as a 
political organizer-The episode of the eclipse of 1806- 
Tecumseh's personal appearance described. 

The confederacy of Tecumseh was established upon 
a priesthood. Let us regard the priest. He was a char- 
acter remarkable enough to invite the attention of all the 
leading men of that day, including Jefferson. He was 
subtle and crafty enough to delude Harrison into the be- 
lief that he might be a friend instead of a foe. 

The account related by Simon Kenton, and vouched 
for by John Johnston and Anthony Shane, is that Tecum- 
seh, Laulewasikaw, the Prophet, and a third brother, 
Kumskaukau, were triplets; that Tecumseh was the 
youngest or last born of the three; that "this event so 
extraordinary among the Indian tribes, with whom a 
double birth is quite uncommon, stpck the mind of the 
people as supernatural, and marked him and his broth- 
ers with the prestige of future greatness— that the Great 
Spirit would direct them to the achievement of something 
great." The date of this extraordinary event is given by 
most authors as 1768, making Tecumseh and the Prophet 
some five years the seniors of General Harrison. "They 
were born in a cabin or hut, constructed of round sap- 
lings chinked with sticks and clay, near the mouth of Still- 
water, on the upper part of its junction with the Great 

280 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 281 

Miami, then a pleasant plateau of land, with a field of 
corn not subject to overflow." 

Of the early life of the Prophet not much is known. 
"According to one account he was noted in his earlier 
years for stupidity and intoxication; but one day, while 
lighting his pipe in his cabin, he fell back apparently 
lifeless and remained in that condition until his friends 
had assembled for the funeral, when he revived from his 
trance, quieted their alarm, and announced that he had 
been conducted to the spirit world." As an orator, he is 
said to have been even more powerful than Tecumseh 
himself, and his great influence in after years among the 
various tribes would seem to bear thaf statement out. 
However, he was boastful, arrogant, at times cruel, and 
never enjoyed the reputation for honesty and integrity 
that his more distinguished brother did. In personal ap- 
pearance he was not prepossessing. He had lost one eye, 
"which defect he concealed by wearing a dark veil or 
handkerchief over the disfigured organ." It has been 
related that he was dominated to some extent by his wife, 
who was regarded by the squaws at the Prophet's Town 
as a queen. 

Whole nations are at times moved with a sort of 
religious fervor or frenzy which extends to all ranks and 
stations. During these periods strange mental phe- 
nomena are at times apparent, great social and political 
movements are inaugurated, and the whole complexion 
of affairs seems to undergo a rapid and sometimes radical 
change. Such a movement occurred among the Indian 
tribes of Ohio and those along the Wabash about the be- 



282 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ginning of the year 1806. At this time a part of the scat- 
tered and broken remnants of the Shawnee tribe had 
been gathered together under the Prophet and Tecumseh 
at Greenville, Ohio. In November of the year before the 
Prophet had "assembled a considerable number of Shaw- 
nees, Wyandots, Ottawas and Senecas, at Wapakoneta, 
on the Auglaize river, when he unfolded to them the new 
character with which he was clothed, and made his first 
public effort in that career of religious imposition, which 
in a few years was felt by the remote tribes of the upper 
lakes, and on the broad plains which stretched beyond 
the Mississippi." The appearance of the Prophet was not 
only highly dramatic but extremely well-timed. The sav- 
age mind was filled with gloomy forebodings. The rav- 
ages of "fire-water," the intermixture of the races, the 
trespassing of the white settlers on the Indian domain, 
and the rapid disappearance of many of the old hunting 
grounds, all betokened a sad destiny for the red man. 
Naturally superstitious, he was prepared for the advent 
of some divine agency to help him in his distress. No one 
understood this better than the Prophet. He may have 
been the dupe of his own imposture, but impostors are 
generally formidable. He was no longer Laulewasikaw, 
but Tenskwatawa, "The Open Door." "He affected great 
sanctity; did not engage in the secular duties of war or 
hunting ; was seldom in public ; devoted most of Ms time 
to fasting, the interpretation of dreams, and offering 
sacrifices to spiritual powers ; pretended to see into futur- 
ity and to foretell events, and announced himself to be 
the mouth-piece of God." 

The first assemblage at Wapakoneta, was later fol- 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 283 

lowed by a series of pilgrimages to Greenville, which 
shortly spread alarm among the white settlers. Hundreds 
of savages flocked around the new seer from the rivers 
and lakes of the northwest and even from beyond the 
Mississippi. In May of 1807 great numbers passed and 
re-passed through Fort Wayne. In a letter of date Au- 
gust 20th, 1807, from William Wells, the United States 
Indian agent at the last named place, to Governor Har- 
rison at Vincennes, Wells relates that the lake Indians 
from the vicinity of Mackinac are flocking to Greenville ; 
that the Prophet is instilling the doctrine that in a few 
years the Great Spirit will destroy every white man in 
America, and that the inhabitants of Detroit are fortify- 
ing themselves against attack. To all these savage gath- 
erings the Prophet preached the new propaganda. He 
denounced drunkenness, and said that he had gone up 
into the clouds and had seen the abode of the Devil ; that 
there he saw all the drunkards and that flames of fire 
continually issued from their mouths, and that all who 
used liquor in this world would suffer eternal torment 
in the next; he advocated a return to pristine habits and 
customs, (Counseling the tribes "to throw away their flints 
and steels, and resort to their original mode of obtaining 
fire by percussion. He denounced the woolen stuffs as not 
equal to skins for clothing; he commended the use of the 
bow and arrow. As to inter-marriage between the races, 
all this was prohibited. The two races were distinct and 
must remain so. Neither could there be any separate or 
individual ownership of any of the Indian lands; these 
were the common heritage of all. The weak, aged and in- 
firm were to be cherished and protected ; parental author- 



284 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ity was to be obeyed. In conclusion, he never failed to 
proclaim that the Great Spirit had gifted him with the 
divine power to 'cure all diseases and to arrest the hand 
of death, in sickness, or on the battlefield'." 

The happening of these events soon attracted the at- 
tention of the British agents at Maiden, just below De- 
troit, and on the Canadian side. McKee was there and 
Matthew Elliott. The old hatred of all things American 
still burned in their bosoms. "England and France," says 
Ridpath, "were now engaged in deadly war. The British 
authorities struck blow after blow against the trade be- 
tween France and foreign nations; and Napoleon retali- 
ated. The plan adopted by the two powers was, as al- 
ready narrated, to blockade each others' ports, either with 
paper proclamations or with men-of-war. By such means 
the commerce of the United States was greatly injured. 
Great Britain next set up her peculiar claim of citizen- 
ship, that whosoever is born in England remains through 
life the subject of England. English cruisers were au- 
thorized to search American vessels for persons suspected 
of being British subjects, and those who were taken were 
impressed as seamen in the English navy. On the twenty- 
second of June, 1807, the frigate Chesapeake was hailed 
near Fortress Monroe by a British man-of-war called the 
Leopard. British officers came on board and demanded 
to search the vessel for deserters. The demand was re- 
fused and the ship cleared for action. But before the 
guns could be charged the Leopard poured in a destructive 
fire, and compelled a surrender. Four men were taken 
from the captured ship, three of whom proved to be Amer- 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 285 

ican citizens. Great Britain disavowed this outrage and 
promised reparation ; but the promise was never fulfilled." 

In the event of a renewal of hostilities between the 
United States and Great Britain, it would evidently be 
the mission of McKee and Elliott to brighten the bond of 
friendship between the Indian tribes and the king; re- 
establish, so far as possible, the old savage confederacy, 
and use it both as a barrier against any attempted in- 
vasion of Canada, and as a weapon of offense against the 
western states and settlements. The Shawnees were 
wholly in the interest of the British. The Potawatomi, 
Ottawas and Chippewas who resided in the neighborhood 
of Detroit were, as Harrison says, "the most perfidious 
of their race," and Wells reported to Harrison, that in 
case of war, the Indian tribes would be against the United 
States. In a letter of July eleventh, 1807, Harrison wrote 
to the Department of War that a respectable trader from 
Detroit had informed him "that McKee, the British In- 
dian agent, was lately seen to pass up the Miami of the 
Lake to Greenville where the Prophet resided, and where 
there has been a considerable collection of Indians for 
many weeks." The frontiers were generally alarmed, and 
in September the Governor dispatched the interpreter, 
John Conner, with a talk to the Shawnees requiring the 
immediate removal of the "impostor" from the territory, 
and the dispersion of the warriors he had collected about 
him. "The British," he writes, "could not have adopted 
a better plan to effect their purpose of alienating from 
our government the affections of the Indians than em- 
ploying this vile instrument. It manifests at once their 



286 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

inveterate rancour against us and their perfect acquaint- 
ance with the Indian character." 

But to return to the Phophet. His fame, bruited far 
and wide, soon aroused the jealousy of many of the neigh- 
boring chiefs and medicine men. They saw their power 
dwindling away and their authority diminishing. They 
took steps to check the advancing tide of fanaticism, but 
were at once adroitly met by the introduction of an in- 
quisition into witchcraft, which had been almost uni- 
versally believed in by the tribes, but against which the 
Prophet now hurled the most direful anathemas. He de- 
clared that anyone who dealt in magic or "medicine jug- 
gleries" should never taste of future happiness, and must 
be instantly put to death. His deluded and awe-struck 
followers promptly began a systematic searching out and 
persecution of ''witches," and all under his personal direc- 
tion. The finger of the seer often pointed at a prominent 
warrior or chieftain, or some member of their household. 
The Prophet's mere denunciation was proof enough. The 
victim went to the torture of death by fire, or some other 
fate equally revolting. Among the Delawares, especially, 
the most shocking cruelty ensued, and finally these things 
came to the ears of the Governor at Vincennes. He im- 
mediately sent a "speech" by special messenger to the 
headmen and chiefs of the Delaware tribe beseeching them 
to cast aside all fallacious doctrines, to denounce the Pro- 
phet and to drive him out of their midst. In the course 
of this "speech" he said : "Demand of him some proof at 
least, of his being the messenger of the Deity. If God 
has really employed him, He has doubtless authorized 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 287 

him to perform miracles that he may be known and re- 
ceived as a prophet. If he is really a prophet, ask of him 
to cause the sun to stand still, the moon to alter its course, 
the rivers to cease to flow, or the dead to rise from their 
graves." 

The language of the Governor proved to be unfortun- 
ate. On June sixteen, 1806, there was a total eclipse of 
the sun in northern latitudes for a period of about five 
minutes, at about a half an hour before midday, and this 
event had long been heralded by the astronomers of that 
time, and had come to the ears of the Prophet through 
intercourse with some white friends. The crafty savage 
was not slow to act. He told his followers that on a cer- 
tain fixed day, and at a time when the sun was at the 
height of its power, he would place the same under his 
feet, and cause darkness to come over the face of the 
earth. On the day announced, the Prophet stood among 
his fearful band, awaiting the hour. The day was wholly 
clear and without clouds, but at the appointed time the 
terrified savages saw a disc of blackness gradually pass 
over the face of the sun ; the birds became agitated and 
flew to cover ; the skulking dogs drew near their masters ; 
almost absolute darkness fell on all about; the stars of 
heaven appeared in the zenith, and in the midst of it all, 
the Prophet exclaimed : "Did I not testify truly? Behold ! 
Darkness has shrouded the sun!" The account of that 
day, faithfully set forth by J. Fennimore Cooper, then a 
youth, is filled with strange relations of the unnatural 
appearance of all earthly things ; of the sudden awe and 
fear that came into the minds of all; how women stood 



288 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

near their husbands in silence and children clung to their 
mothers in terror, and if these were the emotions exper- 
ienced in a civilized community, made fully aware of the 
coming event, what must have been the impression pro- 
duced on the superstitious mind of the savage, wholly un- 
enlightened in the ways of science? From that day, the 
power of the savage Prophet was secure until the spell of 
his magic was forever broken by Harrison's soldiers at 
Tippecanoe. 

It is not certain at what precise period in his career, 
whether in 1806 or 1807, or later, the Prophet was tempted 
by British gold and British overtures. President Jeffer- 
son once wrote to John Adams as follows: "I thought 
there was little danger in his making proselytes from the 
habits and comforts they had learned from the whites, to 
the hardships and privations of savagism, and no great 
harm if he did. But his followers increased until the 
British thought him worth corrupting, and found him cor- 
ruptible." Neither is it certain at what precise period 
Tecumseh put his brother-priest behind him and assumed 
the lead. That he had cunningly pretended to have great 
respect and reverence while the Prophet was practicing 
on the superstition of the tribes; that he took no steps 
to stop the inquisitions which were destroying the in- 
fluence of the chiefs and medicine men; that he stood 
ready at the opportune moment to push the brother-priest 
into the back-ground and form a confederacy with him- 
self as the recognized head, will not now admit of con- 
troversy. 

In 1806 Tecumseh was about thirty-eight years of age, 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 289 

a finished athlete, a renowned hunter, and of great reputa- 
tion as a bold and fearless orator. Probably no red man 
ever born had a better knowledge of the various treaties 
that had been consummated between the races. "For all 
those qualities which elevate man far above his race ; for 
talent, tact, skill, bravery as a warrior; for high-minded, 
honorable and chivalrous bearing as a man; in fine, for 
all those elements of greatness which place him a long 
way above his fellows in savage life, the name and fame 
of Tecumseh will go down to posterity in the west, as 
one of the most celebrated of the aborigines of this con- 
tinent." This is the estimate of Judge Law, of Vincennes. 

In his youth he had been under the tutelage of his 
elder brother, Cheeseekau, who taught him "a love for 
the truth, a contempt of everything mean and sordid, and 
the practice of those cardinal Indian virtues, courage in 
battle and fortitude in suffering." In one of the early 
Shawnee raids along the Ohio he had witnessed the burn- 
ing of a white man at the stake ; the scene was so horri- 
fying to him that he made his associates promise never to 
torture another person. The spoils of the hunt he divided 
with the aged and unfortunate. At the time of the Pro- 
phet's rise he had already matched his prowess in battle 
against such men as Simon Kenton and his associates and 
had proven both his skill as a tactician and his courage 
as a fighter. 

An illustration of Tecumseh's chivalry toward his 
foes, is pleasingly set forth in Smith's Historical Sketches 
of Old Vincennes; "Early in the year 1811, Governor 
Harrison, with a view to ascertaining the cause of the dis- 



290 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

satisfaction of the Prophet, and, if possible, pacify him, 
deputed one of his most sagacious and trusty advisers 
with a competent interpreter to hold a council with him 
and his chiefs, including his brother warrior chief, Te- 
cumseh. It is learned from history that these gentlemen 
arrived at the village one evening and were received in 
an apparently friendly manner by the Prophet and as- 
signed a tent for the night with an appointment for a 
council the next morning. It is said the Prophet's wife 
was considered a queen among the Indian women, as well 
as by her husband. Before retiring for the night the 
interpreter observed an unusual stir among the squaws, 
and motions made toward their tent, and caught menacing 
glances and gestures toward them, and so told the am- 
bassador, but he made light of the matter and the inter- 
preter's suspicions that treachery was intended, and when 
night came on he was soon asleep in peace and quiet. But 
not so with the vigilant interpreter, who kept awake and 
had his guns near at hand. About midnight a tap was 
heard at the door and his name, in the Shawnee language, 
was called. He found Tecumseh at the door. He had 
called to warn him of impending assassination by the 
queen and squaws, who had held a council and determined 
on their death in spite of the protests of himself and 
others who told them it would be base treachery to kill 
messengers of peace who were their visitors. He told 
the visitors to rise and go with him. They went silently 
through the village and down into a wooded ravine near 
the river, where a noise was made as if to call wild tur- 
keys, sounds well recognized by all hunters in early days ; 
an answer was returned, and soon two men appeared 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 291 

with the ambassador's horses, which they speedily mount- 
ed and rode swiftly away, accompanied by two guides 
furnished by Tecumseh, and were soon well on their 
return trip to Vincennes." 

No true portrait of this celebrated Indian is in ex- 
istence The following pfraphic description of him, how- 
ever, is given by Stanley Hatch, who had a personal 
acquaintance with him in times of peace: "The general 
appearance of this remarkable man was uncommonly fine. 
His height was about five feet nine inches, judging him 
by my own height when standing close to him, and cor- 
roborated by the late Col. John Johnston, for many years 
Indian agent at Piqua. His face oval rather than angu- 
lar; his nose handsome and straight; his mouth beauti- 
fully formed, like that of Napoleon I, as represented in 
his portraits; his eyes clear, transparent hazel, with a 
mild, pleasant expression when in repose, or in conversa- 
tion; but when excited in his orations or by the enthus- 
iasm of a conflict, or when in anger, they appeared like 
balls of fire; his teeth beautifully white, and his com- 
plexion more of a light brown or tan than red ; his whole 
tribe as well as their kindred the Ottawas, had light com- 
plexions; his arms and hands were finely formed; his 
limbs straight; he always stood very erect and walked 
with a brisk, elastic, vigorous step ; invariably dressed in 
Indian tanned buckskin; a perfectly well fitting hunting 
frock descending to the knee, and over his under clothes 
of the same material ; the usual cape and finish of yellow 
fringe about the neck; cape, edges of the front opening 
and bottom of the frock; a belt of the same material in 



292 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

which were his side arms (an elegant silver-mounted 
tomahawk and a knife in a strong leather case) ; short 
pantaloons connected with neatly fitting leggings and 
moccasins, with a mantle of the same material thrown 
over his left shoulder, used as a blanket in camp and as 
a protection in storms. Such was his dress when I last 
saw him, on the seventeenth of August, 1812, on the 
streets of Detroit ; mutually exchanging tokens of recogni- 
tion with former acquaintances in years of peace, and 
passing on, he, to see that his Indians had all crossed to 
Maiden, as commanded, and to counsel with his white 
allies in regard to the next movement of the now really 
commenced War of 1812. He was then in the prime of 
life, and presented in his appearance and noble bearing 
one of the finest looking men I have ever seen." 

The striking circumstances of his birth, the ascend- 
ency of his brother, the Prophet, his burning hatred of 
the white race ; his skill as a hunter and valor as a war- 
rior; above all his wonderful eloquence and thorough 
knowledge of all the Indian treaties of the past, gave Te- 
cumseh an influence and authority among the tribes far 
beyond that of any of the braves or sachems of that day. 
If at the first his imagination had not dared to scale the 
heights of power, he later boldly threw aside all disguise, 
and by his powerful advocacy of a communistic ownership 
of all the Indian lands by the tribes in common, he aimed 
both a blow at the ancient authority claimed by the Indian 
chieftains, and at the validity of every treaty ever nego- 
tiated between the two races of men. The sum and sub- 
stance of Tecumseh's doctrine is thus succinctly stated 



THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS 293 

by Judge Law: "That the Great Spirit had given the In- 
dians all their lands in common to be held by them as 
such and not by the various tribes w^ho had settled on 
portions of it^ — claiming it as their own. That they were 
squatters having no 'pre-emption right,' but holding even 
that on which they lived as mere 'tenants in common' 
with all the other tribes. That this mere possession gave 
them no title to convey the land without the consent of 
all. That no single tribe had the right to sell, that the 
power to sell was not vested in their chiefs, but must be 
the act of the warriors in council assembled of all the 
tribes, as the land belonged to all — no portion of it to any 
single tribe." 

If these tenets were to hold, it was clear that any 
authority claimed by the chiefs to represent their respec- 
tive tribes in the sale or barter of any of the Indian do- 
main was without foundation ; that any treaty not nego- 
tiated and ratified by a common council of all the warriors 
of all the tribes, was null and void ; that Wayne's Treaty 
of 1795 was nullum pactum; that the claim of the white 
settlers to any of the lands north of the Ohio was without 
force, and that they were trespassers and mere licensees 
from the beginning. The doctrine thus enunciated was 
not entirely new. Joseph Brant had claimed that the 
land was the common property of the tribes, but he had 
never declared that the sanction of all the warriors was 
necessary to a conveyance. But the plausible eloquence 
of Tecumseh, coming at a time when the star of the red 
man was setting; when every passing day witnessed the 
encroachment of the white settlers, gave a new ray of hope 



294 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

to the fainting tribes. The warriors, carried away by the 
dreams and incantations of the Prophet, and sustained 
by the burning words of a new leader, who promised them 
a restoration of their former glory, cast aside with con- 
tempt all the articles and solemn agreements of the past, 
and were ready to take up the tomahawk in patriotic de- 
fense of their lands and homes. Thus did Tecumseh look 
forward to the establishment of "a great and permanent 
confederation — an empire of red men, of which he should 
be the leader and emperor." 



CHAPTER XIX 

PROPHET'S TOWN 

— The capital of the Shatvnee Confederacy in the heart 
of the Miami country. 

Before entering upon the final details of the strug- 
gle between Harrison and Tecumseh, it may not be un- 
interesting to recur to a point of time just before the 
Treaty of Fort Wayne, when the two Indian leaders re- 
moved from the neighborhood of the white settlements at 
Greenville, Ohio, and established the Prophet's Town on 
the Wabash river in the month of June, 1808. This was 
to be the spot from whence should emanate all those bril- 
liant schemes of the brothers to merge the broken tribes 
into a confederacy ; to oppose the further advance of the 
white settlers, and with the aid of the British power in 
Canada, to drive them back beyond the waters of the Ohio. 
It was, as General Richard P. DeHart has aptly remarked, 
"the seat of Indian diplomacy and strategy for many 
years." 

In leading their followers to this new field, the broth- 
ers were guided by certain lines of policy which were both 
remarkable in their conception, and signal for their far- 
sightedness. The rendezvous at Greenville had been 
marked by intense enthusiasm, hundreds of red men 
flocking thither to imbibe the new faith and to commune 
with the Prophet ; so many in fact, that Governor Harri- 

295 



296 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



son had ordered them to be supplied from the public 
stores at Fort Wayne in order to avert trouble. But it 
was evident to the new leaders that all this congregating 
did not turn aside starvation ; that warriors could not be 
held together who were hungry and who lacked corn; 
that the proximity of white traders was conducive to 
drunkenness; that if back of outward appearances any 
warlike exercises were to be indulged, or the emissaries 
and arms of the British were to be received, that these 
things would require secrecy and seclusion until the plot 
was ripe; that some strategic position must be secured 
on one of the great waterways of the interior, within 
quick striking distance of the settlements and easily ac- 
cessible to the British posts. 

Such a spot was the site of the old French and In- 
dian trading post on the right bank of the Wabash and 
about ten miles above the present city of Lafayette. To 
the west about one and one-quarter miles is the marble 
shaft of the Battleground, and going from thence east 
across the fields and open woodlands you come to the 
fringe of woods that still lines the river. You have walked 
over the old Indian corn fields and are now standing on 
the exact location of the old Prophets's Town. The scene 
is one of great beauty even at this day, when the forest 
has been despoiled and nature ravished of her choicest 
charms. Here, the river extends in an almost unbroken 
line for three or four miles, bordered by sycamores and 
maples, and with a wealth of clinging vines, crab-apple 
blossoms and blooming flowers on either bank. The old 
trading post of Petit Piconne was located on a series 



THE PROPHET'S TOWN 297 

of high cliffs, crowned with huge forest trees, and com- 
manding the river through vistas of foliage. The face 
of these cliffs is frequently broken by sharp ravines, that 
extend on back among the hills with many devious wind- 
ings. At the foot of the steep slopes, extends a long, nar- 
row tableland of forest bordering directly upon the river ; 
this is interspersed with springs of fresh water that burst 
from the hillsides. On the cliffs stood the camps and cabins 
of the warriors and their followers; below, and on the 
tableland and next to the water, the horses were tethered, 
and canoes were drawn up out of the river. 

Thither the Prophet and his brother now turned their 
eyes. The whole upper valley, including the basins of the 
Tippecanoe and the Wildcat, was the rightful possession 
of the Miamis and the Weas, but the brothers now secured 
a pretended right or license from the Kickapoos and the 
Potawatomi to establish a camp. The Miamis of the 
north, and the Delawares of the south, were alike alarmed. 
The Delawares in particular had been the friends of the 
white people and adherents of the Governor. They 
divined, and divined truly, that the Prophet's plans ulti- 
mately involved mischief. To avoid a possible war they 
sent a deputation of chiefs to the Prophet, who refused 
to see them, but deputed Tecumseh to answer their remon- 
strances. On this mission he was entirely successful. By 
threats and persuasion he turned them back, although 
they had received strict instructions from their tribe to 
oppose a new settlement. On a visit shortly afterwards 
by John Conner, interpreter for the Delawares, on a 
search for stolen horses, he found the Prophet safely 



298 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ensconced in his chosen position, with a following of 
thirty or forty Shawnees, and about ninety others, con- 
sisting of Potawatomi, Chippewas, Ottawas and Winne- 
bagoes. 

The location selected was certainly ideal. "By a short 
portage the Indians could go by canoe to Lake Erie or 
Lake Michigan, or by the Wabash reach all the vast sys- 
tem of watercourses to the north and west. It was only 
twenty-four hours' journey by canoe, at a favorable stage 
of water, down stream to Vincennes, the capital of the 
white man's territory;" the British post at Maiden was 
only a few days distant. As to the Indian tribes, the 
Prophet's Town was almost centrally located in the Miami 
confederacy; to the north as far as the post of Chicago 
and Lake Michigan extended the realm of the Potawa- 
tomi ; on the Vermilion below, and to the west of the main 
stream, lay the villages of the Kickapoos, whose hardy 
warriors, second only to the Wyandots, had accepted the 
new faith; the Sacs and Foxes, the Winnebagoes, Otta- 
was, Chippewas and Wyandots, were all within easy 
reach, and secret embassies and negotiations might be 
carried on without much fear of detection. 

The brothers now resolved to pursue the following 
course — to wean their followers entirely away from the 
use of whiskey, which was fast destroying their military 
efficiency; to teach them, if possible, the ways of labor, 
so that they might raise corn and other products of the 
earth, and thus supply their magazines against a time of 
war; to dupe the Governor into the belief that their mis- 
sion was one of peace, and undertaken solely for the 



THE PROPHET'S TOWN 299 

moral uplift and betterment of the tribes — in the mean- 
time, by the constant practice of religious ceremonies and 
rites, to work on the super stiti on of the warriors; win 
them, if need be, from the chieftains who might counsel 
peace, and by a series of warlike sports and exercises, hold 
together the young bucks and train them for the inevit- 
able conflict between the races. 

What strange mysticism did the Prophet practice 
to make the Indians of the Wabash "abandon whiskey, 
discard textile clothing, return to skins, throw away their 
witch-bags, kill their dogs, and abandon the white man's 
ways, even to giving up flint and steel for making fires?" 
That he had gained fame and ascendency among the 
neighboring tribes since the episode of the eclipse in 1806, 
is testified to by the fact that when Richard McNemar, the 
Shaker, visited him in 1807, at Greenville, Ohio, he found 
a temple of worship one hundred fifty feet in length, sur- 
rounded by wigwams and cottages, and the Indians then 
told McNemar that they all believed implicitly in the 
Prophet and that he could "dream to God." The Prophet 
had at that time also gone so far as to institute the con- 
fessional, and all sinful disclosures were made to himself 
and four accompanying chiefs. The question was asked : 
"Do they confess all the bad things they ever did?" An- 
swer: "All from seven years old. And cry and tremble 
when they come to confess." A sort of nature or sun- 
worship had already been introduced. McNemar thus 
describes a salutation to the lord of the day : "Next morn- 
ing, as soon as it was day, one of their speakers mounted 
a log, near the southeast corner of the village, and began 



300 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the morning service with a loud voice, in thanksgiving 
to the Great Spirit. He continued his address for near 
an hour. The people were all in their tents, some at the 
distance of fifteen or twenty rods; yet they could all 
distinctly hear, and gave a solemn and loud assent, which 
sounded from tent to tent, at every pause. While we 
stood in his view, at the end of the meeting house, on 
rising ground, from which we had a prospect of the sur- 
rounding wigwams, and the vast open plain or prairie, to 
the south and east, and which looked over the big fort, 
toward the north, for the distance of two miles, we felt 
as if we were among the tribes of Israel, on their march 
to Canaan." 

By weird incantations, symbolic ceremonies, and 
practice of the black art, the Prophet had gone tar. He 
was now regarded as invulnerable, and his person sacred. 
But that which gave point to his oracles, and authority 
to his imposture, was his Shawnee hatred of the pale 
face. To incite their growing jealousy and malice, he told 
his dupes, that the white man had poisoned all their land, 
and prevented it from producing such things as they 
found necessary to their subsistence. The growing scarc- 
ity of game, the disappearance of the deer and buffalo 
before the white settlements, were indisputable proofs of 
his assertions. Says Harrison: "The game which was 
formerly so abundant, is now so scarce as barely to afford 
subsistence to the most active hunters. The greater part 
of each tribe are half the year in a state of starvation, 
and astonishing as it may seem, these remote savages 
have felt their full share of the misfortunes which the 



THE PROPHET'S TOWN 301 

troubles in Europe have brought upon the greater part 
of the world. The exolusion of the English from the con- 
tinent of Europe, where they were accustomed to dispose 
of the greater part of the peltries imported from Canada, 
has reduced the price of those articles almost to nothing ; 
the Indians can scarcely procure for them the necessary 
ammunition, and they are often induced to forego the 
purchase of this necessary article to gratify their passion 
for whiskey." All these evils were attributed by the 
Prophet to the extension of the American settlements. To 
drive back these invaders who polluted the soil and dese- 
crated the graves of their fathers — what more was needed 
to incite the savage warriors to a crusade of blood and 
extermination? About this time it was noticed that the 
Potawatomi of the prairies, who were under the influence 
of the Prophet, were frequently holding religious exer- 
cises, but that these exercises were always concluded with 
"war-like sports, shooting with bows, throwing the toma- 
hawk, and wielding the war-club." 

In the meantime, the relation of these religious cere- 
monies at the Prophet's Town and their seemingly good 
effect upon the red man, completely disarmed the Gover- 
nor for the time being. He now entertained the idea that 
the great Indian leader might be "made a useful instru- 
ment in effecting a radical and salutary change in the 
manners and habits of the Indians." To stop the use of 
ardent spirits and to encourage the cultivation of corn, 
were two important steps, as the Governor thought. 
Events which succeeded but added to Harrison's decep- 
tion. In June, 1808, messengers appeared at Vincennes, 
and one of them stated that he had listened to the Prophet 



302 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

for upwards of three years, and had never heard anything 
but good advice. "He tells us we must pray to the Great 
Spirit who made the world and everything in it for our 
use. He tells us that no man could make the plants, the 
trees, and the animals, but they must be made by the 
Great Spirit, to whom we ought to pray, and obey in all 
things. He tells us not to lie, to steal, or to drink whiskey ; 
and not to go to war, but to live in peace with all man- 
kind. He tells us also to work and to make corn." 

In August of the same year, the crafty Prophet him- 
self appeared and remained at Vincennes for more than 
two weeks. The Governor was surprised at the great 
address and ease with which he handled his followers, 
and had the pleasure of listening to a speech, in which 
the Prophet professed the most pacific intentions, con- 
stantly haranguing his retinue upon the evils of war and 
liquor, and holding out to them the advantages of tem- 
perance and peace. It s«ems that the Governor even made 
a few personal experiments to determine whether the In- 
dians were in earnest about their pretensions, but could 
induce none of them to touch fire-water. The interview 
closed to the entire satisfaction of the Governor, the 
Prophet promising to keep him fully informed as to any- 
thing that might be inimical to the settlements, and re- 
ceiving in return many presents from the Governor in the 
way of implements of husbandry, arms, powder and other 
things which the Indians claimed that they were in sore 
need of. On the first of September, 1808, in a communi- 
cation to Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, the Gov- 
ernor wrote as follows : "The celebrated Shawnee Prophet 
has just left me after a visit of more than two weeks. 



THE PROPHET'S TOWN 303 

He is rather possessed of considerable talents, and the 
art and address with which he manages the Indians is 
really astonishing. I was not able to ascertain whether 
he is as I at first supposed, a tool of the British or not. 
His denial of being under any such influence was strong 
and apparently candid. He says that his sole purpose is 
to reclaim the Indians from the bad habits they have 
contracted, and to cause them to live in peace and friend- 
ship with all mankind, and declares that he is particularly 
instructed to that effect by the Great Spirit. He fre- 
quently harangued his followers in my presence, and the 
evils attendant upon war and the use of ardent spirits was 
his constant theme. I cannot say how successful he may 
be in persuading them to lay aside their passion for war, 
but the experiment made to determine whether their re- 
fusal to drink whiskey proceeded from principle, or was 
only empty profession, estabhshed the former beyond all 
doubt. Upon the whole. Sir, I am inclined to think the 
influence which the Prophet has acquired will prove 
rather advantageous than otherwise to the United 
States." 

How vain this trust! Scarcely had the Prophet re- 
turned to his town, before he was entertaining an emis- 
sary and spy of the British government, who urged war 
on the United States. In the following spring of 1809, 
the Chippewas, Ottawas and Potawatomi were being 
urged by the Prophet to take up arms against the inhabi- 
tants of Vincennes, and to destroy the settlers along the 
Ohio, as far up as Cincinnati. Reports of these proceed- 
ings were confirmed by Michael Brouillette, an Indian 
trader, and by Touissant Dubois, a confidential agent of 



304 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

the Governor. Harrison probably averted an Indian at- 
tack, by promptly organizing two additional companies of 
militia and throwing them into the vicinity of Fort Knox, 
to guard the approaches to the capital by land and water. 
The Indians, however, seeing this prompt action, deserted 
the Prophet and returned to their homes. The Governor 
was not fooled a second time. The Prophet again visited 
him in the summer of 1809, and made the same old pre- 
tensions of peace. But the Governor forced him to admit 
that he had entertained the British the fall before, and 
that he had been invited, as he said, to join a league of 
the Sacs and Foxes against the whites in the early spring, 
and he could make no satisfactory explanation as to why 
he had not imparted these facts to the government, when 
he had been solemnly enjoined so to do. From this time 
on, the Prophet was regarded with a just suspicion, and 
Harrison diligently regarded every movement of the new 
faith. ' 



CHAPTER XX 
HARRISON'S VIGILANCE 

— His personal courage and at 'ivities save the frontier 

capital. 

v 
The spring of 1810 opened with peril to Vincennes. 

The eternal vigilance of Harrison alone saved the day. 
The fall before had witnessed the making of the Treaty 
of Fort Wayne and the acquisition of the New Purchase ; 
this had strengthened the claims of the Prophet and Te- 
cumseh for a closer union of the tribes, and had given 
added force to their argument in favor of a communistic 
ownership of all the land. What right had the old village 
chiefs to dispose of the common domain without the con- 
sent of the warriors who had fought to maintain it? The 
Great Spirit gave the soil in common to all the tribes; 
what single tribe could alienate any particular portion 
of it? 

Reliable word came to the Governor in April that the 
Prophet had assembled one thousand souls at the 
Prophet's Town, with probably three hundred fifty or 
four hundred men among them, consisting principally of 
Kickapoos and Winnebagoes, "but with a considerable 
number of Potawatomies and Shawnees and a few Chip- 
'Pewas and Ottawas;" that the French traders along the 
Wabash had been warned by the Prophet's followers to 
separate themselves from the Americans at Vincennes for 
trouble was brewing; that the Indians at Tippecanoe had 

305 



306 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

refused to buy ammunition of the traders, saying that 
they had a plenty, and could get plenty more without 
paying for it; that Matthew Elliott, the British agent at 
Maiden, was busy with plot and intrigue against the 
United States. But Harrison was surrounded by some 
of the best scouts and confidential agents that a frontier 
official ever commanded — among them Touissant Dubois, 
Joseph Barron and Michael Brouillette. He kept awake ^ 
and on the alert. 

Tecumseh now assumed a more active leadership. 
The day had arrived for the statesman and warrior to 
sound the alarm, form an active league and confederacy 
of all the tribes, and with tomahawk in hand, resist any 
further advancement on the part of the whites. As Har- 
rison afterwards remarked, he appeared today on the; 
Wabash, a short time later on the shores of Lake Erie 
or Lake Michigan, and then upon the Mississippi. Every- 
where he was masterful, eloquent, convincing, and "made 
an impression favorable to his purpose." At one time; 
during the early summer it is known that he was at De- 
troit, and he was probably in close communication with 
his British allies, although he professed to hate them. 

About May, 1810, a council of all the tribes of the 
Wabash and those to the north was called at the river 
St. Joseph of Lake Michigan. The whole situation was 
fraught with danger, for Harrison had reason to believe 
that many of the tribes had already received the toma- 
hawk and were meditating a combined attack on the set- 
tlements. Subsequent events proved that his fears were 
well founded. He immediately dispatched John Conner 



HARRISON'S VIGILANCE 307 

/ 
to the Delawares and "pointed out to them the unavoid- 
able destruction which awaited all the tribes which should 
dare to take up the hatchet against their fathers, and the 
great danger that the friendly tribes would incur, if war 
should be kindled, from the difficulty of discriminating 
friend from foe." 

A messenger was dispatched in haste after the depu- 
ties of the tribes deputed to the council, with full instruc- 
tions dictated by the Governor, to urge these facts upon 
the assembled tribes. In addition, the Governor in re- 
sponse to the demand of a company of officers, merchants, 
and others at Vincennes, at once called two companies of 
militia into active service, established alarm posts upon 
the frontier, and used all available means at hand to put 
himself in readiness for war. Fortunately, the Delawares 
remaine d fai thful. If Winamac is to be believed, the 
Prophet in person urged upon the council an immediate 
surprise of Detroit, Fort Wayne, the post at Chicago, St. 
Lou is and Vincennes, and a junction with the tribes of 
the Mississippi, but the "forcible representations" of the 
Delaware deputies, who were looked upon as "grand- 
fathers," prevented the adoption of his plans. It seems 
that the younger men and some of the war lords of the 
smaller bands were ready to go to war, but the sachems 
and older village chieftains who had participated in the 
treaty of the year before held aloof. The Chippewas, 
Ottawas and Potawatomi refused to take up arms, the , 
council broke up without any concerted action, and Wina- 
mac and the Potawatomi were sent to the Governor to 
make report of the proceedings. When Winamac arrived 
at Vincennes in the latter part of June, he reported that 



308 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



as he passed through the Propi^et's Town an attempt was 
made to assassinate him — so enraged was the Prophet 
at his failure on the St. Joseph. Winamac further told 
the Governor that about the time of the council the 
Prophet had proposed to the younger warriors that the 
principal chiefs of all the tribes should be murdered; 
that they were the ones who had brought about a sale 
of the Indian lands, and that their, the warriors' hands, 
would never be untied until they were rid of them. The 
brothers were baffled in another mission. Tecumseh 
urged the Shawnees at Wapakoneta, Ohio, to join the 
league. A letter of John Johnston, Indian agent at Fort 
Wayne, informed the Governor that the Shawnees refused 
even to enter into council with him. 

The ugly temper into which the Indians had now 
worked themselves is well illustrated by the episode of 
the salt. Shortly prior to the fifteenth of June, a boat 
came up the Wabash to the Prophet's Town laden with 
salt for the use of the tribes, according to the terms of a 
former treaty. The men in charge of the boat reported 
that the Prophet, and some Kickapoos with him at the 
time, refused to receive it, and he was directed to leave 
the salt on the bank of the river until Tecumseh should 
return; Tecumseh being reported as at Detroit. On his 
return trip home the master of the boat was directed to 
re-load the salt; that the Indians would have nothing to 
do with it. "Whilst the hands were rolling in the bar- 
rels, the brother of the Prophet seized the master and 
several others by the hair, and shaking them violently, 
asked them if they were Americans. They, however, were 
all young Frenchmen. They also insulted Mr. Brouillette, 



KARRISON^S VIGILANCE 309 

and called him an American dog, and a young Pottawat- 
tamie chief directed his men to plunder his house, which 
was immediately done, depriving him of all his provisions, 
tobacco, etc." Michael Brouillette was the French trader 
heretofore referred to, and was the personal agent and 
scout of General Harrison, He kept on hand a few art- 
icles of trade to disguise his real character. 

On one of their embassies, however, the brothers 
were successful. One of the most influential of the tribes 
in council was the Wyandots or Hurons, now greatly re- 
duced in numbers, but still of great prestige and power 
among the red men. Harrison always ranked their war- 
riors among the best, and General Wayne at Greenville 
had delivered to them the original duplicate of the treaty. 
In a speech by Massas^, a Chippewa chief, to General 
Wayne, he referred to this tribe as "our uncles, the Wyan- 
dots," and this was the designation generally employed 
by all the tribes. It was plain that if the Wyandots could 
be won over to the new cause, a great diplomatic victory 
would be gained and the influence of the new movement 
greatly augmented. The Prophet accordingly sent a depu- 
tation to the Wyandots, "expressing his surprise that the 
Wyandots, who had directed the councils of the other 
tribes, as well as the treaty with the white people, should 
sit still, and see the property of the Indians usurped by a 
part," and he expressly desired to see the treaties and 
know what they contained. The Wyandots were greatly 
flattered by these attentions, and answered "that they 
had nothing nearer their hearts, than to see all the vari- 
ous tribes united again as one man — that they looked upon 
everything that had been done since the treaty of Green- 



310 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ville as good for nothing — and that they would unite their 
exertions with those of the Prophet, to bring together all 
the tribes, and get them to unite to put a stop to the en- — 
croachments of the white people." It seems that the ■ 
Wyandots were also the keepers of the great belt, which 
had formerly been a symbol of the union of the tribes 
at the time of the war with Anthony Wayne. They now 
came in deputation to the Prophet's Town, carrying this 
great belt with them, and producing it among the clans 
of the Miamis at the villages of the Mississinewa, accus- 
ed them of deserting their Indian friends and allies. The 
tribes at Mississinewa sent for the Weas and accompanied 
the deputation to Tippecanoe. 

Though thwarted on the St. Joseph and among the 
Shawnees, it was plain that a strict espionage would have 
to be maintained over the proceedings at the Prophet's 
Town, and especially over the Prophet himself. The 
heart of this priest was filled with plots of assassination 
and murder. Grosble, an old Indian friend of the Gov- 
ernor, informed him that the Prophet had at one time 
planned a wholesale slaughter at Vincennes, and that it 
had been arranged that the Prophet should enter the 
Governor's house with ten or twelve of his followers and 
slay him. To the Prophet may be attributed most of the 
horse-stealing expeditions, the insults to messengers and 
agents, and the plans for the murder of the older Indian 
chiefs. While Tecumseh either countenanced these 
transactions, or else was unable to control them, he seems, 
with strange sagacity for a savage, to have at all times 
realized that the assassination of Harrison, the stealing 
of a few horses, or the slaughter of a few white men on 



HARRISON'S VIGILANCE 311 

the border, would really never accomplish anything save 
to intensify the feeling between the races. While never 
comprehending the great forces of civilization and of the 
government which he was resisting, he seems to have 
steadily kept in mind that a handful of naked savages at 
the Prophet's Town would avail him nothing; that in 
order to effectively strike he must have back of him a 
substantial body of warriors recruited from all the con- 
federated tribes, well victualled, armed and equipped, and 
equal in number to the armies of his adversary. He 
knew the Indian character well enough to know that they 
would never long resist a superior force. If he could keep 
his rash and impulsive brother in leash long enough to 
form a permanent and powerful league, then he had hopes 
of ultimate success. But there was the great danger, in 
fact, the very peril that finally engulfed him. The Prophet 
with that fatal egotism of the fanatic, vainly imagined 
that he was more than a match for the Governor, and in 
the absence of his brother, let his vindictive hate and 
malice destroy the last dream of empire. 

In the latter part of the month of June, Harrison 
sent Dubois and Brouillette to the Prophet's Town to take 
note of what was going on. They reported that while the 
tribes of the Mississinewa, the Weas and Kickapoos were 
living in expectation of trouble, that there was no im- 
mediate danger, as the defection of the tribes at the St. 
Joseph had upset the plans of the brothers. Dubois re- 
quested the Prophet to state the grounds of his complaint, 
if he had any, against the United States. The Prophet 
answered in the language of Brant, that the Indians had 
been cheated of their lands and that no sale was good 



312 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

unless made by all the tribes. On the fourth of July, four 
canoes, filled with the Prophet's followers, passed the Wea 
village at Terre Haute, and Harrison sent out the militia 
to discover what had become of them. One of these canoes 
came down the river to a Shaker settlement sixteen miles 
above Vincennes. The Indians there attended meeting 
on Sunday, the Prophet professing to believe in the 
Shaker creed, (without, however, practicing celibacy), 
and then finished the day's proceedings by stealing five 
horses. They made no attempt to cover their tracks, but 
the Governor stopped any pursuit, as he "had been in- 
formed some time before, that one of their plans to bring 
on the war, was to send out parties to steal horses, and, 
if they were pursued, to kill their pursuers." This was 
plainly the work of the Prophet. More alarming stories 
came in. It was said that the Sacs and Foxes were await- 
ing the signal from the Prophet to take up arms ; that a 
party of them had visited the British superintendent, and 
that Elliott had said to a Miami at Maiden "My son, keep 
your eyes fixed on me — my tomahawk is now up — be 
you ready, but do not strike till I give the signal." Har- 
rison in the light of all these events, determined to send 
Barron, his trusted interpreter, to the Prophet's Town. 
The reception of Barron is thus dramatically related; 
"He was first conducted ceremoniously to the place where 
the Prophet, surrounded by a number of Indians, was 
seated. Here he was left standing at a distance of about 
ten feet from the Indian prophet. 'He looked at me,' said 
Barron, *for several minutes, without speaking or making 
any sign of recognition, although he knew me well. At 
last he spoke, apparently in anger. 'For what purpose 



HARRISON'S VIGILANCE 313 

do you come here?' said he, 'Brouillette was here; he was 
a spy. Dubois was here; he was a spy. There is your 
grave; look on it!' The Prophet then pointed to the 
ground near the spot where I stood." 

No harm was done him, however. Tecumseh inter- 
ceded and the Governor's messenger was finally received 
with respect. Barron delivered a speech of Harrison's 
to the Prophet in the presence of Tecumseh. The purport 
of this address was, that while the Governor said he be- 
lieved that there had been an attempt to raise the toma- 
hawk, that the old chain of friendship between the In- 
dians and whites might still be renewed ; that there were 
two roads open, one leading to peace, and the other to 
misery and ruin ; that it was useless to make war against 
the Seventeen Fires, as their blue-coats were more numer- 
ous than the sands of the Wabash; that if complaint 
was made as to the purchase of the Indian lands, that the 
Governor was willing to send the principal chiefs to Wash- 
ington to make this complaint to the President in per- 
son; that everything necessary for the journey should be 
prepared and a safe return guaranteed. 

On this visit Barron held much personal converse 
with Tecumseh and lodged with him in a cabin. He pro- 
fessed to be much pleased with Harrison's speech, observ- 
ing that he had not seen him since he was a young man 
seated at the side of General Wayne. He disclaimed any 
intention of trying to make war, but said that it would 
be impossible to remain on friendly terms with the United 
States unless they abandoned the idea of trying to make 
settlements farther to the north and west, and unless they 



314 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

acknowledged the principle that all the lands were held 
by the tribes in common. Said he : "The Great Spirit gave 
this great island to his red children ; he placed the whites 
on the other side of the big water; they were not con- 
tented with their own, but came to take ours from us. 
They have driven us from the sea to the lakes, we can go 
no further. They have taken upon themselves to say this 
tract belongs to the Miamis, this to the Delawares, and 
so on, but the Great Spirit intended it as the common prop- 
erty of all the tribes, nor can it be sold without the consent 
of all. Our father tells us, that we have no business upon 
the Wabash, the land belongs to other tribes, but the Great 
Spirit ordered us to come here and here we shall stay." 

Tecumseh now resolved on that famous meeting witn 
the Governor at Vincennes. Harrison had long known 
that there were those in his midst who were inimical to 
his plans and who had opposed his purpose of the fall 
before, but he did not learn until afterwards the full ex- 
tent of their treachery. It seems that Tecumseh had been 
given to understand that about half of the population of 
Vincennes were friendly to his cause. An American had 
visited him during the winter of 1809-10 who informed 
him that Harrison had no authority whatever from the 
government to make the purchase ; that the Governor had 
only two years more to remain in office, and that if 
Tecumseh could prevail upon the Indians to refuse their 
annuities under the treaty until the Governor "was dis- 
placed, as he would be, and a good man appointed as his 
successor, he would restore to the Indians all the lands 
purchased from them." How far these representations 
may have deceived Tecumseh into the belief that he was 



HARRISON'S VIGILANCE 315 

dealing with a man who was tottering to the fall, is not 
certainly known. He determined at any rate, to make a 
show of force. If the Governor was a weakling who sat 
insecurely in his seat, and was fearful of public clamor, 
here was an opportunity to display that fact. As he re- 
marked to Barron, he had not seen the Governor since he 
was "a very young man," sitting at the side of General 
Wayne. The Governor was younger in years than Tecum- 
seh, and no doubt the Shawnee was disposed to regard 
him with contempt. To appear suddenly at the capital of 
the white man with a band of armed warriors ; to openly 
and haughtily declare his purpose of resisting the preten- 
sions of the Governor and to pour out his insolence upon 
the heads of the chieftains who had dared to sell the lands 
— what a grand culmination of all his plans this would be, 
if it had the desired effect! There was nothing to lose, 
everything to gain. He resolved to try it. Accordingly, 
on the 12th day of August, there swept down the river to 
Fort Knox, eighty canoes, filled with naked savages paint- 
ed in the most terrific manner. All of them were armed 
and ready for attack. At their head was the great war- 
chief, described by Major George R. Floyd, commandant 
at the fort, as 'about six feet high, straight, with large, 
fine features, and altogether a daring, bold looking fel- 
low." The conference with the Governor was appointed 
for the morrow. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 

— The dramatic 7neeting between Harrison and Tecum- 
seh. — Tecumseh announces his doctrine of the common 
ownership of the Indian tabids. 

The great house of the Governor at Vincennes is situ- 
ated inland from the Wabash river about six hundred feet, 
and there formerly stood in front of this house and next 
to the river a grove of walnut trees which afforded a 
gracious shade. It was here, that on a bright, sunshiny day 
in August, the dramatic meeting occurred between the 
Shawnee chief and Governor Harrison. Local tradition 
has preserved a tale that the Governor had secreted in 
the great parlor of his house a company of one hundred 
well-armed soldiers to provide against any treachery on 
the part of the red men, and computations have been 
made to show that the room would accomodate that num- 
ber of infantry, but this story must be regarded with 
suspicion. 

Tecumseh and his party seem to have arrived at the 
place of rendezvous in canoes and by way of the river. He 
appeared on the scene with a retinue of forty warriors ac- 
coutered in the elaborate costume of the ceremonial, with 
painted bodies and feathered headdress, and fully armed 
with war clubs and tomahawks. The chief himself, invari- 
ably wore a simple dress of Indian tanned buckskin, with 
a mantle of the same material thrown over the left shoul- 

SIG 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 317 

der. In his belt he carried an elegant silver mounted toma- 
hawk and a hunting knife in a leathern case. "Tall, athletic 
and manly, dignified, but graceful," he stood as the chosen 
exponent of his people's wrongs, ready to voice their 
plaints in the "musical and euphonious" accents of the 
Shawnee tongue. 

A close observer of the savages of that day has stat- 
ed that, "those who have been familiar with the Indians 
of the northwest, when they were Indians, and took suffi- 
cient interest in them as a race to study with care their 
customs, laws and usages, are aware that when attending 
councils with other nations or tribes, or with our agents, 
that they were always acting a part, a kind of diplomatic 
drama." To Tecumseh the moment appeared propitious. 
The time had arrived to put the youthful Governor of 
thirty-seven years to the test. Harrison was attended 
by the judges of the supreme court; General Gibson, the 
secretary; Major G. R. Floyd, and other officers of the 
regular army, and a guard of twelve men from the gar- 
rison under the command of Lieutenant Jennings; there 
was also a large assemblage of citizens present, who had 
been invited thither to hear what Tecumseh had to pre- 
sent. The stage was well set, and the bold and insolent 
heart of the savage rose high. "As he came in front of 
the dais, an elevated portion of the place upon which the 
Governor and the officers of the territory were seated, 
the Governor invited him, through his interpreter, to 
come forward and take a seat with him and his counsel- 
lors, premising the invitation by saying 'That it was the 
wish of the Great Father, the President of the United 
States, that he should do so'. The chief paused for a mo- 



318 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ment, as the words were uttered and the sentence finish- 
ed, and raising his tall form to its greatest height, sur- 
veyed the troops and the crowd around him. Then with 
his keen eyes fixed on the Governor for a single moment, 
and turning them to the sky above, with his sinewy arms 
pointed toward the heavens, and with a tone and manner 
indicative of supreme contempt, for the paternity assign- 
ed him, said in a voice whose clarion tones were heard 
throughout the whole assembly: 'My Father? — The sun 
is my father — the earth is my mother — and on her bosom 
I will recline!" 

Thus th€ council opened. The Governor, with a short 
sword at his side, seated on the platform with his offi- 
cers and advisers; the Indians in front of him seated on 
the grass; to the left, the Potawatomi chief, Winamac, 
with one of his young men, extended on the green, and all 
about the eager and curious faces of the crowd, now 
wrought up to a high state of tension by the sarcastic re- 
tort of the Indian chieftain. The speech that followed, 
"was full of hostility from beginning to end." Tecumseh 
began in a low voice and spoke for about an hour. "As 
he warmed with his subject his clear tones might be heard, 
as if 'trumpet-tongued' to the utmost limits of the assem- 
bled crowd who gathered around him." The interpreter 
Barron, was an illiterate man and the beauty and elo- 
quence of the chief's oration was in great part lost. He 
denounced with passion and bitterness the cruel murder 
of the Moravian Indians during the Revolutionary War, 
the assassination of friendly chieftains and other out- 
rages, and said that he did not know how he could ever be 
a friend of the white man again; that the tribes had 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 319 

been driven by the Americans "toward the setting sun, 
like a galloping horse," and that they would shortly push 
them into the lakes where they could neither stand nor 
walk; that the white people had allotted each separate 
tribe a certain tract of land so as to create strife between 
them, and so that they might be destroyed; that he and 
his brother had purposed from the beginning to form a 
confederation of all the tribes to resist any further en- 
croachment of the whites; that the Great Spirit had 
given all the land in common to the Indians, and that no 
single tribe had a right to alienate any particular portion 
of it. He declared that the Treaty of Fort Wayne had 
been made with the consent of only a few; that it was 
largely brought about by the threats of Winamac, and 
that a reluctant consent had been wrung from the Weas 
because they were few in number. So fierce and vitriolic 
became his abuse of Winamac that that chieftain primed 
his pistols and seemed ready at any moment to take 
Tecumseh's life. The speaker went on to declare: "that 
if the government would not give up the lands that were 
purchased from the Miamis, Delawares, Pottawattamies, 
etc., that those who were united with him, were determin- 
ed to fall upon those tribes and destroy them. That they 
were determined to have no more chiefs, but in the future 
to have everything under the direction of the warriors ;" 
that the Governor would see what would be done to the 
village chiefs who had sold the land, and unless he re- 
stored it he would be a party to the killing of them. 

The bold and defiant attitude of the speaker, and the 
tone of insolence that pervaded all his words, astonished 
even the Governor. A weak or corrupt man would have 



320 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

trembled in his place and been at a loss how to answer. 
Not so with Harrison. All who knew him, says John 
Law, were willing to acknowledge his courage, both moral 
and physical. He knew that the treaty of Fort Wayne 
hrd been concluded under the instructions of government; 
that his dealings with the tribes had been open-handed 
and fair, even with the insignificant Weas of the lower 
waters; that the ''unwarranted and unwarrantable" pre- 
tensions of Tecumseh were made largely for their effect 
upon the audience, and after Tecumseh's remarks had 
been openly interpreted by Barron, he arose without tre- 
mor or hesitation to deny the chief's assertions. He spoke 
no doubt with some degree of force, for he undoubtedly un- 
derstood by now that Tecumseh would never have given 
utterance to many of his charges, without entertaining a 
belief that they would meet the approval of some traitor- 
ous faction of the assembly. He answered: "That the 
charges of bad faith against our government, and the as- 
sertion that injustice had been done the Indians in any 
treaty ever made, or any council ever held with them by 
the United States, had no foundation in fact. That in all 
their dealings with the red men, they had ever been gov- 
erned by the strictest rules of right and justice. That 
while other civilized nations had treated them with con- 
tumely and contempt, ours had always acted in good faith 
with them. That so far as he individually was concerned, 
he could say in the presence of the "Great Spirit" who was 
watching over their deliberations, that his conduct, even 
with the most insignificant tribe, had been marked with 
kindness, and all his acts governed by honor, integrity and 
fair dealing. That he had uniformly been the friend of 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 321 

the red men, and that it was the first time in his life that 
his motives had been questioned, or his actions impeached. 
It was the first time in his life that he had ever heard 
such unfounded claims put forth, as Tecumseh set up, by 
any chief, or any Indian, having the least regard for truth 
or the slightest knowledge of the intercourse between the 
Indians and the white m,en, from the time this continent 
was first discovered. That as to the claim of Tecumseh 
that all the Indians were but one nation, and owned the 
lands in common, that this could not be maintained ; that 
at the time the white men arrived on the continent they 
had found the Miamis in possession of the Wabash ; that 
the Shawnees were then residents of Georgia, from which 
they had been driven by the Creeks; that the lands in 
question had been purchased from the Miamis who were 
the original owners of it ; that if the Great Spirit had in- 
tended that the tribes should constitute but one nation, he 
would not have put different tongues in their heads, but 
taught them all to speak a language that all could under- 
stand; that the Miamis had been benefited by the annui- 
ties of the government and that the Seventeen Fires had 
always been punctual in the payment of them; that the 
Shawnees had no right to come from a distant country 
and control the Miamis in the disposal of their own prop- 
erty." 

An event now took place, that but for the quick pres- 
ence of mind and decisive action of the Governor, might 
have terminated in bloodshed. Harrison had taken his 
seat and Barron had interpreted his reply to the Shawnees, 
and was turning to the Miamis and Potawatomi, when 
Tecumseh excitedly sprang to his feet and told Barron to 



322 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

tell the Governor that he lied. Barron, who as a subordi- 
nate in the Indian department, had great respect for his 
superiors, was seeking to mollify the harshness of this lan- 
guage, when he was again interrupted by Tecumseh, who 
said: "No! No! Tell him he lies!" The Governor noticed 
Tecumseh's angry manner, but thought he was seeking to 
make some explanation, when his attention was directed 
to Winamac, who was cocking his pistol, and a moment 
later. General Gibson, who understood the Shawnee lan- 
guage, said to Lieutenant Jennings: "Those fellows in- 
tend mischief; you had better bring up the guard." In 
an instant all was confusion. The warriors on the grass 
sprang to their feet brandishing their war clubs and toma- 
hawks; Harrison extricated himself from his chair and 
drew his sword to defend himself; Major Floyd drew a 
dirk, and the Methodist minister Winans ran to the Gov- 
ernor's house, got a gun, and stood by the door to protect 
the family. Such of the citizens as could, armed them- 
selves with brickbats. In the midst of this turmoil the 
guard came running up and were about to fire on the In- 
dians, when Harrison quickly interposed and commanded 
them not to do so. He now demanded a full explanation, 
and when the intemperate words of Tecumseh were ex- 
plained, told him he was a bad man and that he would 
hold no further communication with him ; that as he had 
come there under the protection of the council fire, he 
might go in safety, but that he must immediately leave 
the neighborhood. The firm stand and commanding at- 
titude of the Governor at once quieted the storm, and 
Tecumseh and his followers leisurely withdrew and re- 
tired to their camp. That night two companies of militia 




;^ 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 323 

were brought in from the country, but no trouble occurred, 
and the time passed quietly until morning. 

It was a part of the local tradition of later years, 
that when Tecumseh called the Governor a liar, that quick 
as a flash he arose to his feet, drew his sword and was 
about to resent the insult, when his friends interfered and 
prevented the blow. This story seems improbable, from 
the fact that the Governor was aware that many unarmed 
citizens were present, and that any rash or inconsiderate 
action on his part would precipitate a conflict that could 
only end in blood and carnage. He knew, moreover, that 
Tecumseh, by all the rules of civilized intercourse, even 
among open belligerents, was entitled to protection while 
engaged in council, and it is not probable that as brave a 
man as Harrison would violate these rules by becoming 
the aggressor. Instead, by quick word of command, he 
recalled the excited chief to his senses, dismissed him at 
once, and averted a catastrophe. 

In the solitude of his camp that evening Tecumseh 
was forced to acknowledge defeat. The young Governor 
instead of quailing had remained firm — it was plain that 
he was the chosen plenipotentiary of his government in 
all the treaties that had been effected. Moreover, in his 
reply, the Governor had not only emphatically repudiated 
all insinuations of unfairness toward the red man, but he 
had put the chief himself on the defensive by shovdng that 
he was an interloper who sought to control the rightful 
possessions of others. At last, it was the stolid savage 
who lost his self control, and the Governor, who by his 
respect for the laws of the council fire had brought the 



324 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

flush of shame to the chieftain's cheek. That night, as 
he afterwards admitted at Fort Meigs, he felt a rising 
respect in his breast for the first magistrate of the ter- 
ritory. He was doomed in after years to associate with 
the cowardly and contemptible Proctor, whom he called a 
"miserable old squaw," but from the day of this council 
he paid the involuntary tribute to Harrison that one brave 
man always pays to another, though ranged on a hostile 
side. 

Thoroughly convinced that his conduct of the day 
previous had been highly impolitic, the chieftain, at the 
dawn of day, sent for Barron, and said that he desired a 
further interview, declaring that he had no intention of 
attacking the Governor on the day before, and that he 
had been advised to pursue the course he did on the coun- 
sel of certain white men; disclosing to Barron the cir- 
cumstances heretofore related as to the visit of certain 
persons at the Prophet's Town, who had said that the 
Governor had no right to make the purchase of the lands 
on the Wabash ; that he was unpopular and would be re- 
moved from office, and that then the lands would be re- 
stored. The Governor would not receive Tecumseh, how- 
ever, until due apology had been made through the inter- 
preter, and ample provision had been made for the pro- 
tection of the citizens by ordering the local company of 
Captain Jones to parade morning and evening, and hold 
themselves ready for instant action. The Governor also 
took the precaution to be well armed, as did several of his 
friends. 

At this second council, Tecumseh's whole demeanor 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 325 

was changed. While remaining "firm and intrepid, he 
said nothing that was in the least insolent." He now dis- 
closed in open council what he had theretofore told Barron 
as to the visits of the white men, and again declared that 
he had no intention of harming the Governor. Harrison 
now informed the chief that he was about to cause a sur- 
vey to be made of the New Purchase, and he desired to 
know whether this process would be attended with any 
danger. Tecumseh at once replied that he and those af- 
filiated with him were determined "that the old boundary 
line should continue, and that the crossing it would be at- 
tended with bad consequences." His words were severally 
^ confirmed by a Wyandot, a Kickapoo, a Potawatomi, an 
Ottawa, and a Winnebago, who each openly avowed that 
their tribes had entered into the Shawnee confederacy, 
and that Tecumseh had been chosen as their leader and 
chief. 

This second council does not seem to have been of great 
length. In it, Tecumseh entirely abandoned any attempt 
at bluster, but firmly and positively stated to the Governor 
that he would not consent to the sale of the Indian lands, 
and that any attempt to survey them would be met with 
resistance. This frank and open statement, elicited a re- 
sponse equally frank from the Governor. He told Tecum- 
seh that his claims would be transmitted in full to the 
President of the United States, and the reply of the 
President at once communicated to him when received, 
but that he was convinced that the President would never 
admit "that the lands on the Wabash, were the property 
of any other tribes, than those who had occupied and lived 
upon them," and as these lands had been fairly and open- 



326 ' THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

ly purchased at Fort Wayne, that the right of the United 
States would be "supported by the sword." With these 
words the interview terminated. 

That night the Governor reflected. If the words of 
Tecumseh as uttered in council, were sincere and genuine, 
they amounted to an open declaration of war — the gov- 
ernment must either entirely recede from the ground it 
had taken, and restore the lands, or prepare for the com- 
ing conflict. Concerning this issue there must be no 
doubt. The Governor therefore resolved to repair to the 
headquarters of Tecumseh in person, and there, removed 
from the atmosphere of a council, hold private intercourse 
with the chieftain and read his intentions. He had hit upon 
this expedient once before in the proceedings at Fort 
Wayne, and the experiment had proven successful. Ac- 
cordingly, the following morning, throwing aside all con- 
siderations of personal danger, he suddenly appeared at 
the tent of Tecumseh, accompanied only by the interpret- 
er Barron. He was most politely received. Proceeding 
at once to the main point, he asked the chief if the decla- 
rations he had made in his two public interviews were his 
real sentiments. Tecumseh answered that they certainly 
were ; that he had no grievance against the United States 
except the matter as to the purchase of the Indian lands, 
and that he would go to war with very great reluctance; 
that if Harrison would prevail upon the President to give 
back the lands, and promise never to consummate any 
more purchases, without the consent of all the tribes, that 
he would be the faithful ally of the Americans and assist 
them in all their wars with the British. "He said he 
knew the latter were always urging the Indians to war 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 327 

for their own advantage, and not to benefit his country- 
men; and here he clapped his hands, and imitated a per- 
son who halloos at a dog, to set him to fight with another, 
thereby insinuating that the British thus endeavored to 
set the Indians on the Americans." He said further that 
he had rather be a friend of the Seventeen Fires, but if 
they would not accede to his demands that he would be 
forced to join the English. The memory of Wayne, the 
commanding figure and dauntless courage of the present 
Governor, had had their effect ; compared to the vile and 
sneaking agents of the British government, who, in the 
security of their forts, had formerly offered bounties for 
American scalps, and urged the Indians to a predatory 
warfare, the American leaders stood out in bold relief as 
both men and warriors. Tecumseh recognized this, but 
the die was cast and his purposes were unchangeable. 
Stripped of all its savage propensities, the heart of the 
Shawnee was really of heroic mould. Concerning that 
great principle of the survival of the fittest, he knew 
nothing; of the onrushing forces of civilization and pro- 
gress he had no just comprehension ; but as the rising sun 
of the new republic appeared, he saw the light of his 
race fading into obscurity, and patriotically resolved 
to stand on his lands and resist to the last. Misinformed, 
misguided, he sought an alliance with the British to 
stem the tide; instead of delaying, this but accelerated 
the decline of the tribes. Tecumseh, when it was too 
late, discovered that the promises of the British agents 
were false, and soon after his death the feeling engender- 
ed against the tribes, on account of their alliance with 
the English and the many atrocities they had committed, 



328 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

drove them beyond the Mississippi. But he who fights 
for his native land and from devotion to principle, how- 
ever wrong, must always be entitled to the respect of the 
brave. 

If coolness and courage had had their effect on the one 
hand, the candor and honesty of his adversary, when met 
face to face, had also moved the Governor. In after years, 
in an address before the Historical Society of Ohio, Har- 
rison said : "I think it probable that Tecumseh possessed 
more integrity than any other of the chiefs who attained 
to much distinction." He now repeated again that he 
would forward to the government all the propositions of 
the chief, but that there was little probability that they 
would be accepted. "Well," said Tecumseh, "as the great 
chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit 
will put sense enough into his head, to induce him to di- 
rect you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far 
off, he will not be injured by the war; he may still sit 
in his town and drink his wine, whilst you and I will have 
to fight it out." The conference ended with an appeal by 
Harrison, that in the event of war, no outrages should 
be committed on women and children and those who were 
unable to resist. This, the chief manfully acceded to, and 
said he would adhere to his promise. 

Thus ended this remarkable conference participated 
in by the two greatest figures then in the western world. 
The one representing the advancing tide of immigration 
that was to build the cities and plow the fields of a new 
empire ; the other representing the forlorn hope of a fast 
decaying race that was soon to be removed from the 
pathways of civilization. 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 329 

Those who have vainly sought to make it appear that 
Harrison afterwards wrongfully passed over the northern 
boundary line of the New Purchase to provoke a fight and 
bring on a conflict, have certainly scanned the records of 
this council at Vincennes with but little care. The truth 
is, that the two principal figures in that affair parted each 
other's company fully realizing that hostilities were at 
hand. To say that Harrison was bound to sit helplessly 
in his capital while his enemies gathered a force suffi- 
cient to overwhelm him, and all without a move on his 
part to avert a calamity, but illustrates the foolishness of 
the whole contention. Immediately on the breaking up of 
the council, Tecumseh departed with a portion of his 
braves to organize and cement a federation of the tribes; 
Harrison, in the meantime, ordering an additional body of 
troops under Captain Cross at Newport, Kentucky, to 
come to the relief of the settlements, and redoubling his 
vigilance to avoid the surprise of a sudden attack. With- 
out hesitation however, he wrote the surveyor-general to 
make a survey; the lines to be run under the protection 
of the militia. 

The Governor was informed by the Weas, that during 
the progress of the proceedings, they had been urged by 
four persons at Vincennes, whose names they furnished, 
to join the Prophet and insist upon a return of the lands. 
False representations were also made to the chiefs of 
this tribe that the purchase at Fort Wayne was made 
without the consent or knowledge of the President, and 
that a council of the Miamis had been called on the Miss- 
issinewa, to make full inquiry. The treasonable designs 
of this coterie came to naught. Whether British 



330 • THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

agencies were actually at work within the town, or wheth- 
er the actions of this clique were prompted by the jealousy 
of the Governor's political enemies, will probably never 
be fully known. Be that as it may, like all cravens of 
their kind when the danger became imminent they slunk 
out of view, and Harrison found himself surrounded by 
the brave and valorous of every settlement, both in the 
vicinity of Vincennes and on the borders of Kentucky. 

Much conjecture had been indulged in, as to whether 
Tecumseh actually meditated an attack at the time of 
the first council. That his impulsive action might well 
have led to disastrous consequences, but for the cool, 
quick command of the Governor, may well be conceded, 
but that he formed any premeditated design before com- 
ing to the council, must admit of some doubt. The rea- 
soning of Drake possesses cogency. He states that Tec- 
umseh's probable purpose in attending the meeting with 
a considerable force was to "make a strong impression 
upon the whites as to the extent of his influence among 
the Indians, and the strength of his party. His move- 
ment in the council may have been concerted for the pur- 
pose of intimidating the Governor ; but the more probable 
suggestion is that in the excitement of the moment, pro- 
duced by the speech of the Governor, he lost his self-pos- 
session and involuntarily placed his hand upon his war 
club, in which movement he was followed by the war- 
riors around him, without any previous intention of pro- 
ceeding to extremities. Whatever may have been the 
fact, the bold chieftain found in Governor Harrison a 
firmness of purpose and an intrepidity of manner which 



THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES 331 

must have convinced him that nothing was to be gained 
by any effort at intimidation, however daring." 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 

— The last meeting between the two leaders before Har- 
rison marched into the Indian country. 

What strange fatality directed the minds of the 
Shawnee brothers to repel all friendly advances 
on the part of the American government, and to 
listen to the poisonous council of Matthew Elliott and the 
other British agents who had so often deceived their race, 
may not easily be divined. Brant had been bribed. Little 
Turtle and the Blue Jacket basely deserted in the hour of 
defeat, and two English treaties negotiated without a 
line in either to the advantage of the red man, but not- 
withstanding all these facts, both Tecumseh and the 
Prophet were now in full and constant communication 
with Maiden, Canada. 

Rapid strides were made by the brothers in the clos- 
ing months of 1810. Not only were the village chiefs and 
sachems shorn of all their old-time authority, and the 
power of determination lodged in the hands of the war- 
riors, but the belt of union circulated by the Prophet 
among the tribes "to confine the great water and prevent 
it from overflowing them," brought many accessions 
both to the confederacy and to the Shawnee influence. It 
was reported that when this belt was exhibited to Elliott 

332 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 333 

and he saw that so many tribes had united against the 
United States that he danced with joy. About the first of 
November, Tecumseh himself arrived at Maiden on a visit 
to the British agency. He remained there until some time 
after the twenty-fourth of December. The nature of his 
conferences with Elliott may be inferentially arrived at 
from the following. An Indian council had, during the 
preceding autumn, been convened at Brownstown, near 
Detroit. A resolution had there been entered into to pre- 
vent the sale of any more lands to the United States and 
this step had been taken at the suggestion of Elliott. Ac- 
cording to the report of the Wea chiefs, the British agent 
had informed the tribes that England and France had 
now made peace, and would soon unite their arms "to dis- 
possess the Americans of the lands they had taken from 
the Indians." The Shawnee land doctrine had become 
popular. "The Indians," writes Harrison, "appear to be 
more uneasy and dissatisfied than I ever before saw them, 
and I believe that the Prophet's principle, that their land 
should be considered common property, is either openly 
avowed or secretly favored by all the tribes west of the 
Wabash." The tribes of the Lakes looked upon the Wa- 
bash as the land of promise. The Winnebagoes were al- 
ready present in considerable numbers at the Prophet's 
Town, and the Wyandots had formed a camp in close 
proximity to that place. The Six Nations were reported 
to be in motion and demanding the privilege of settling 
in the Wabash valley. Could all these tribes be assembled 
in the face of the advancing American settlements, they 
would serve the double purpose of checking this advance 
and furnishing a protective barrier to Canada in case of 



334 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

a war between Great Britain and the United States. 
Tecumseh and Elliott were joined in the fellowship of a 
mutual interest. 

The Miami chiefs looked upon this presumptuous con- 
duct of the Shawnee leaders with high disapproval. Their 
tribes were the rightful proprietors of the soil, and the 
establishment of the Prophet had been effected without 
their consent. But much of their ancient authority had 
passed_away. Many of their young warriors were car- 
ried away by the mad fanaticism of the Prophet and 
vainly imagined that they could drive the white man back 
across the_Ohio, Unless the hands of the Miami leaders 
were upheld, they could not long resist the pressure of 
the surrounding tribes and must give their sanction to 
the Prophet's scheme. 

Harrison was fully convinced that the old village 
chiefs would willingly place themselves under the pro- 
tection of the government, and surrender their claims for 
a suitable annuity, rather than submit to any domination 
on the part of their neighbors. The Governor was plainly 
in favor of forming an alliance with the Miamis, of dis- 
persing the followers of the Prophet, and paving the 
way for further extinguishment of the Indian title. He 
urged that the narrow strip on the west side of the Green- 
ville cession, in the eastern part of the Indiana territory, 
would soon be filled with new settlers; that the back- 
woodsmen were not men "of a disposition to content 
themselves with land of an inferior quality when they 
see in their immediate neighborhood the finest country 
as to soil in the world occupied by a few wretched sav- 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 335 

ages;" that the Territory was fast advancing to state- 
hood, and that the members of the Territorial legislature 
were heartily in favor of smoothing the way to further 
purchases. 

The Governor also earnestly pressed the government 
to establish a strong post on the Wabash in the upper por- 
tion of the New Purchase. The citizens of Vincennes 
had been thoroughly alarmed by the presence of so large 
a gathering of red men at the council in August. Mur- 
ders were frequent, and horse-stealing was an everyday 
occurrence. To adopt a policy of vacillation with a sav- 
age was to confess weakness. The Prophet was openly 
declaring to Brouillette, the Governor's agent, that no 
survey of the new lands would be permitted. Immigra- 
tion was ebbing, and the selling and settling of the newly 
acquired territory was wholly out of the question so long 
as the purchasers could not be assured of protection. The 
display of a strong force of regulars and mounted militia, 
the establishment of a strong position on the borders of 
the Indian country, would not only dishearten the follow- 
ers of the Prophet and discourage further accessions to 
his banner, but strengthen the hands of those Miami 
chieftains who still preserved their allegiance to the 
United States. Any expeditionary force to be employed 
was to be headed by the Governor himself, who had taken 
a very active part in the training of the frontier militia- 
men, and who now offered his services -Voluntarily and 
without compensation. 

The Federal authorities moved slowly. It was evident 
that the old indifference as to the welfare of the western 



336 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

world still prevailed. Some strange hallucination led the 
Washington authorities to believe that friendly relations 
might be sustained with a band of s ayages who were 
carried away by a religious frenzy, and who were daily 
giving ear to British whisperings. The consequences were 
that a party of mounted dragoons organized by Judge 
Benjamin Parke to protect Vincennes and who made a 
demand for pistols and swords, did not receive their equip- 
ment until late in the following spring, and then the 
swords were found to be of iron ; that no orders were is- 
sued to form a friendly alliance with the Miami chiefs, 
and hold them steadfast ; that the small detachment of one 
hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty regulars 
under Captain Cross did not arrive until the third of 
October, and that no instructions were received from the 
government, until all forage for the horses had disappear- 
ed from the woods, and it was too late in the season to un- 
dertake an expedition. / 

With the opening of the spring of 1811, the insolence 
and effrontery of the Shawnee leaders measurably in- 
creased. About the first of April twelve horses were 
stolen from the settlement of Busseron, about twenty 
miles above Vincennes. The pillaging bands of the Pota- 
watomi, directly under the influence of the Prophet, were 
^ committing robberies and murders on the Illinois and Mis- 
souri frontiers. In the issuj of August 18th, 1810, of the 
Western Sun, of Vincennes, appeared this paragraph: 
"Extract of a letter from a gentleman at St. Louis, to his 
friend in this place, dated August 3rd, 1810. 'On my re- 
turn from the garrison up the Missouri, I stayed at Cap- 
tain Cole's, who just returned from the pursuit of some 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUK..IL 337 

Indians that had stolen horses from the settlement — they 
came in view of the Indians on the prairie, and pursued on 
until night, and encamped, made fires, etc., in the wood- 
land, and not apprehending any danger from the Indians, 
lay down to sleep — some time after midnight, they were 
fired upon by the Indians, and four men killed." 

What had happened was this : There is a grove about 
three or four miles southwest of Morocco, in Newton 
County, Indiana, named Turkey Foot grove, and another 
of the same name about forty miles south of it, and two 
or three miles southeast of the town of Earl Park. In 
this region dwelt Turkey Foot, at the head of a lawless 
band of the prairie Potawatomi. They had kept the fron- 
tiers of Illinois in terror for months and had caused con- 
siderable anxiety both to Governor Harrison and to Gov- 
ernor Ninian Edwards of the Illinois Territory. In a 
spirit of devilish mischief and led on by the hope of plun- 
der, the chief and his followers had ridden hundreds of 
miles across the grand prairies of Indiana and Illinois, 
had forded the Mississippi, and pierced to the outposts of 
Loutre island in the Missouri river, below the present 
town of Hermann, and from fifty to seventy miles west of 
St. Louis, had stolen a bunch of horses there, and made 
good their escape, after committing one of the foulest 
murders recorded in the early history of that territory. 

As soon as the theft of the horses was discovered, 
great excitement prevailed, as horses were very valuable 
to the early pioneer. A rescue party was organized, coni- 
posed of Samuel Cole, and William T. Cole, Temple, Pat- 
ton, Murdock and Gooch, and after pursuing the Indians 



338 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

all day, they came in sight of them on a large prairie, but 
the horses of Cole's party were so tired that Cole had to 
give up the chase, and an encampment was made in a 
small woodland. After midnight, and when all were in 
slumber, the stealthy savages returned, surrounded the 
camp, and on the first attack killed Temple, Patton and 
Gooch. Murdock sought shelter under the bank of a creek 
near by, but William T. Cole was attacked by two sav- 
ages, one in front and one in the rear. In the rencounter 
Cole was stabbed in the shoulder, but wrenched a knife 
from one of his assailants and killed him. The other In- 
dian escaped in the darkness. 

This murder and larceny combined, was brought to 
the attention of Governor Harrison by the then acting 
governor of the Louisiana Territory. Later, documentary 
proof was furnished by Governor Howard. Harrison 
sent William Wells and John Conner to Tippecanoe to 
demand restitution of the stolen property. Four horses 
were delivered up, and a promise made by the Shawnee 
leaders to procure the remainder, but this was never 
done. Wells found out that the Potawatomi banditti who 
had committed these murders were directly under the in- 
fluence of Tecumseh and the Prophet, but he was given to 
understand that the murderers had fled to the Illinois 
river, and that no attempt would be made to apprehend 
them. Tecumseh boldly attempted to excuse all these 
outrages in a subsequent conference with the Governor. 

Wells had much conversation at this time with Te- 
cumseh, who "openly and positively avowed his determi- 
nation to resist the encroachments of the white people." 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 339 

Wells told the Shawnee chief that he would never be able 
to accomplish his designs, but Tecumseh replied that 
Wells would live to see the contrary. About this time a 
friendly Kickapoo chief arrived at Vincennes and told 
the Governor that he was determined to put him on his 
guard against the Prophet and his brother. "He said 
that their pacific professions were not to be relied upon ; 
that he had heard them speaking to the Indians for 
several years and in that time he had never heard any- 
thing that they said but war and hatred against the 
United States. That the delivering up of the horses 
which were occasionally stolen was merely intended to 
lull our vigilance and to prevent us from discovering their 
designs until they were ripe for execution. That they 
frequently told their young men that they would defeat 
their plans by their precipitancy. That in their harangues 
to the Indians they frequently requested those who would 
not join their confederacy, to keep their secret. That 
they always promised them a rich harvest of plunder and 
scalps, declaring that the first stroke would put them in 
possession of an ample supply of arms, ammunition and 
provisions." 

On the second of May, General William Clark, of 
St. Louis, wrote to the Governor informing him that the 
Prophet had sent the belt to the Mississippi tribes, in- 
viting them to join in a war against the United States, 
and declaring that the war would be begun by an attack 
on Vincennes. About the same time word was brought 
that the Sacs had acceded to the hostile confederacy, and 
that the Potawatomi in the region of Chicago were on 
the warpath. A party of surveyors employed by the 



340 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

surveyor-general to divide the New Purchase into town- 
ships, were seized and bound by a party of Weas, their 
arms taken from them, and the engineers driven in ter- 
ror to Cincinnati. In the fore part of June, a pirogue 
sent up the Wabash with the annual supply of salt for 
the Indian tribes was seized by the Prophet and every 
barrel taken. The excuse given was, that the Prophet had 
two thousand warriors to feed, and that he had taken 
none on the previous year. Pierre La Plante, Harrison's 
agent at the Prophet's Town, reported that only about 
one hundred warriors were present at the time, but that 
Tecumseh was shortly expected to arrive with a consid- 
erable reinforcement from the lakes. About the twentieth 
of June, five Shawnees and ten Winnebagoes of the 
Prophet's party invaded Vincennes bringing a number of 
rifles and tomahawks to be repaired. They were boldly 
accused by some Potawatomi of Topenebee's faction to be 
meditating war against Harrison and to be making ob- 
servations on the situation of affairs within the town. 

So threatening and warlike were the actions of the 
Shawnee leaders that the Governor now addressed a com- 
munication to the Secretary of War, demanding that the 
Fourth United States Regiment at Pittsburgh, under the 
command of Colonel John Parke Boyd, be sent forward 
immediately for the defense of the frontiers. The govern- 
ment was in part aroused from its state of lethargy. Re- 
cent advices from Governor Edwards had announced a 
series of murders and depredations on the Illinois fron- 
tier, and the citizens of Vincennes were in constant 
dread and apprehension. The Governor said that he 
could not much longer restrain his people, and that there 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 341 

was danger of them falling on the Indians and slaying 
friend and foe alike, from their inability to discriminate 
the various tribes. By a letter of the seventeenth of 
July, the Governor received word that the aforementioned 
regiment, with a company of riflemen, had been ordered to 
descend the Ohio, and that Colonel Boyd was to act under 
the advice and command of the Governor himself. If 
necessary, this force was to be employed in an attack 
upon the Prophet, but the Governor was given positive 
orders not to march them up the river or to begin hos- 
tilities, until every other expedient had failed. Hedged 
about by timid restrictions and foolish admonitions, the 
course of the Governor was rendered extremely difficult. 
One thing, however, he had firmly resolved to do. The 
Prophet's forces must soon be scattered. 

In the meantime, Harrison had dispatched Captain 
Walter Wilson, of the Territorial militia, with a speech 
to the Prophet's Town. The Captain was well received by 
Tecumseh. Harrison's talk was plain and to the point. 
He informed the Shawnee brothers that he was well aware 
of their design to unite the tribes, murder the Governor, 
and commence a war upon his people. That their seizure 
of the salt sent up the Wabash was ample proof of their 
hostile intention. That they had no prospect of success, 
for his hunting shirt men were as numerous as the mos- 
quitoes on the shores of the Wabash. That if they were 
discontented with the sale of the lands at Fort Wayne, 
that he (the Governor) would furnish them the means to 
visit the President of the United States, and they might 
then state their claims in full and receive justice, but 
that they must not come to Vincennes with a large retinue. 



342 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

as this would not be permitted. If they came they must 
only be attended by a few of their young men. This last 
proposition, Tecumseh promptly acquiesced in and sent 
word to the Governor that he expected to be in Vincennes 
in about eighteen days, and that all matters would then 
be settled in "peace and happiness." 

Harrison was vigilant. He determined to watch the 
river with a party of scouts, and in the meantime to 
muster the militia and make a show of military force. 
He was convinced that if his wily antagonist found him 
off his guard that he would not hesitate to "pick a quar- 
rel," and launch a general attack. The Governor's letter 
to the war department of July 10th, 1811, is interesting. 
"With them (i. e., the Indians) the surprise of an enemy 
bestows more eclat upon a warrior than the most bril- 
liant success obtained by other means. Tecumseh has 
taken for his model the celebrated Pontiac and I am per- 
suaded that he will bear a favorable comparison in every 
respect with that far famed warrior. If it is his object to 
begin with the surprise of this place, it is impossible that 
a more favorable situation could have been chosen than 
the one he occupies. It is just so far off as to be removed 
from our immediate observation, and yet so near as to 
enable him to strike us when the water is high in twenty- 
four hours, and even when it is low their light canoes 
will come fully as fast as the journey could be performed 
on horseback. The situation is in other respects admir- 
able for the purposes for which he has chosen it. It is 
nearly central with regard to the tribes which he wishes 
to unite. The water communication with Lake Erie by 
means of the Wabash and Miami, with Lake Michigan 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 343 

and the Illinois by the Tippecanoe, is a great convenience. 
It is immediately in the center of the back line of that 
fine country which he wishes to prevent us from settling, 
and above all, he has immediately in his rear a country 
that has been but little explored, consisting principally 
of barren thickets, interspersed with swamps and lakes, 
into which our cavalry could not penetrate, and our in- 
fantry only by slow and laborious marches." 

Tecumseh did not keep his word. At the very time 
he was promising Wilson to bring only a few men he 
was sending word in every direction to collect his peo- 
ple. On the twenty-fourth of July he was within a few 
miles' march of Vincennes with one hundred twenty or 
thirty warriors, and the Weas under Lapoussier were 
coming on in the rear. The people were greatly alarmed 
and irritated and there was danger of their firing on the 
savage bands. Brouillette was kept in the saddle riding 
from camp to camp. On the twenty-fifth, Harrison sent 
Captain Wilson twenty miles up the river to demand of 
Tecumseh his reason for approaching the town with so 
large a force, despite the Governor's injunction and his 
own previous agreement. The savage after some equivo- 
cation, said that he was only attended by twenty-four men 
and that the remainder had come "on their own accord." 
Parties of savages were then lurking about the settle- 
ments on every hand, and "upwards of one hundred were 
within two miles of the town northwest of the Wabash." 
Some sinister design was moving the chieftain's mind. 

On the twenty-seventh the main body of savages 
arrived by canoe, and on the next day came those who 



344 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

marched by land. Three hundred red men were present, 
including twenty or thirty women and children. What 
was Tecumseh's object? Harrison's spies reported to 
him that it was the intention of the Shawnee to per- 
emptorily demand a retrocession of the late purchase, 
and if it was not obtained, to seize some of the chiefs 
who were active in making the treaty, and in the presence 
of the Governor put them to death. If the Governor in- 
terfered he was to share the same fate. However this 
may be, the great chief abandoned any hostile design he 
may have entertained on a view of Harrison's forces. On 
the day of his arrival a review of the neighboring militia 
was held, at which were present seven or eight hundred 
men under arms. "The two infantry companies on duty 
were increased to three, and these being relieved on dif- 
ferent days by some management in marching and chang- 
ing quarters, it appeared to the Indians that four or five 
companies were on constant duty. The elegant troop of 
dragoons commanded by Captain Parke (who is also one 
of our supreme judges) were exhibited to the greatest 
advantage, and nightly patrols both of horse and foot 
announced a vigilance which defied surprise. The In- 
dians were in astonishment and terror and I believe most 
of them went off impressed with the belief that Vin- 
cennes was not as easily to be taken as their chief would 
have convinced them." The promptitude and foresight 
of the Governor probably prevented a massacre. 

Harrison sought an immediate interview, but was not 
able to bring Tecumseh into council, until Tuesday the 
thirtieth of July. An arbor had been erected in front of 
the executive mansion. An hour before the time of the 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 345 

appointed meeting Tecumseh sent a messenger to learn 
whether the Governor would be attended by an armed 
force. In that event he announced that he would come 
armed also. The Governor gave him his choice, but in- 
formed the chief that in case his warriors left their guns 
at their camp, that he (Harrison) would only be attended 
by twenty-five or thirty dismounted dragoons. Tecumseh 
preferred the latter arrangement, "and came attended by 
about one hundred and seventy or one hundred and eighty 
men without guns, but all of them having knives and 
tomahawks or war clubs, and some with bows and ar- 
rows." The Governor opened the council by mentioning 
the great alarm which had been occasioned by the late 
murders in Illinois and the assembling of so large a body 
of savages, and declared that he was ready to listen to 
anything that the chiefs might have to say, but that he 
would enter into no negotiation concerning the late pur- 
chase. That affair was in the hands of the President who 
had not sent any answer to the claim that Tecumseh had 
last year set up on behalf of all the tribes on the conti- 
nent. He also declared that Tecumseh might, if he so 
desired, make a visit to the President and hear his deter- 
mination from his own mouth. The Governor concluded 
by demanding an explanation of the seizure of the salt. 

Tecumseh in his short reply adverted to the matter 
of the salt first. He said that he had not been at home on 
either occasion when the salt boats had arrived, but that 
it was impossible to please the Governor, for last year 
he was angry because the salt was refused, and now he 
was angry because it was taken. After some further 



346 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

unimportant observations, a violent storm came on and 
the council was adjourned. , 

At two o'clock the/iiext day the council again con- 
vened, when Lapoussier, the Wea chieftain, who was now 
the firm friend of Tecumseh, arose and made a long 
speech on the treaties that had been entered into between 
the Governor and the Indian tribes. He closed by stating 
that the Miamis had been forced by the Potawatomi to 
make the late treaty of Fort Wayne, and that it would 
be proper to make an inquiry as to the person who had 
held the tomahawk over their heads, and punish him. 
This was, of course, an allusion to Winamac. Harrison 
immediately called on the Miami chiefs present for a con- 
tradiction of this statement, and then turning to Tecum- 
seh, told him that it lay within his power to manifest the 
truth of his professions of friendship towards the United 
States and his desire to preserve peace, by delivering up 
the two Potawatomi who had murdered the four white 
men on the Missouri last fall, and who were then in his 
camp. 

The reply of Tecumseh is given in Harrison's own 
language. "He said that after much trouble and diffi- 
culty he had at length brought all the northern tribes to 
unite and place themselves under his direction. That the 
white people were unnecessarily alarmed at his meas- 
ures — that they really meant nothing but peace — the 
United States had set him the example of forming a strict 
union amongst all the fires that compose their confeder- 
acy. That the Indians did not complain of it — nor should 
his white brothers complain of him for doing the same 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 347 

thing with regard to the Indian tribes. As soon as the 
council was over he was to set out on a visit to the south- 
ern tribes to get them to unite with those of the north. 
To my demand of the murderers, he observed that they 
were not in his town, as I believed them — that it was not 
right to punish those people — that they ought to be for- 
given, as well as those who lately murdered our people 
in the Illinois. That he had set us an example of for- 
giveness of injuries which we ought to follow. The Otta- 
was had murdered one of his women, and the Osages one 
of his relations, and yet he had forborne to revenge them 
— that he had even taken the tomahawks out of the hands 
of those who were ready to march against the Osages. 
To my inquiry whether he was determined to prevent the 
settlement of the New Purchase, he replied that he hoped 
no attempt would be made to settle until his return next 
spring. That a great number of Indians were coming to 
settle at his town this fall, and who must occupy that 
tract as a hunting ground, and if they did no further in- 
jury, they might kill the cattle and hogs of the white 
people, which would produce disturbance. That he wish- 
ed every thing to remain in its present situation until 
his return — our settlements not to progress further — and 
no revenge sought for any injury that had been or should 
be received by the white people until his return — that he 
would then go and see the President and settle everything 
with him. That the affairs of all the tribes in this quar- 
ter were in his hands and that nothing could be done with- 
out him — that he would dispatch messengers in every di- 
rection to prevent them from doing any more mischief — 



348 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

that he had made full atonement for the murders which 
had been committed by the wampum which he delivered." 

The reply of the Governor was short and pithy. It 
was now evening and the moon was shining. He told 
the assembled tribesmen that the moon which they be- 
held would sooner fall to the earth "than the President 
would suffer his people to be murdered with impunity, 
and that he would put his warriors in petticoats sooner 
than he would give up a country which he had fairly 
acquired from the rightful owners." The meeting was 
then broken up. 

We have said that the promptitude and foresight of 
the Governor probably averted a massacre. It was the 
opinion of all the neutral Indians on the ground that 
Tecumseh meditated a stroke. His manner throughout 
the council was embarrassed, and it was evident to all that 
the speech he actually delivered was not the one he had 
prepared for the occasion. If he had found the Governor 
unprepared and the town defenseless, his fierce hatred 
of the paleface and his boundless ambition as a warrior, 
would probably have prompted him to resort to violence, 
for it is a well known fact, observed by all Indian writers, 
that a savage will always act upon the advantage of the 
moment, regardless of future consequences. Besides, it 
is probable that Tecumseh now felt himself powerful 
enough to deal a telling blow. Many accessions had been 
made to his confederacy and the daring depredations in 
the Illinois country had gone unpunished. Like all savages, 
he had nothing but contempt for a government that did 
not promptly revenge its wrongs. But when, on approach- 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 349 

ing the town, he observed the great military array, and 
saw bodies of armed men and mounted riflemen moving to 
and fro, his resolution was shaken and he experienced 
a more wholesome respect for his adversary's strength. 
"Heedless of futurity," says Harrison, "it is only by 
placing the danger before his eyes, that a savage is to be 
controlled. Even the gallant Tecumseh is not insensible 
to an argument of this kind. No courtier could be more 
complaisant, than he was upon his last visit. To have 
heard him, one would have supposed that he came here 
for the purpose of complimenting me. This wonderful 
metamorphosis in manner was entirely produced by the 
gleaming and clanging of arms ; by the frowns of a con- 
siderable body of hunting shirt men, who accidentally 
lined a road by which he approached to the council house." 

The body of savages again melted away, and the 
Miami chieftains who had accompanied the expedition 
returned to their homes. On the fifth of August, Tecum- 
seh, with a retinue of twenty chiefs, including the famous 
Potaw atomi. Sha ubena. passed down the Wabash to visit 
the nations of the south and more firmly cement the 
bonds of his confederacy. The day before he departed 
he called on the Governor and labored hard to convince 
him that he had no object in view other than to unite 
the tribes in a league of peace. After visiting the Creeks 
and Choctaws, he was to pass through the land of the 
Osages and return by the Missouri river. Before his 
return, the last hope of the red man was to be forever 
crushed, and the old dream of Pontiac forever dispelled. 

The Governor has paid a just and worthy tribute to 



350 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

his savage foe. In a letter of August seventh, 1811, he 
writes to the department of war as follows: "The im- 
plicit confidence and respect which the followers of Te- 
cumseh pay to him is really astonishing, and more than 
any other circumstance bespeaks him one of those un- 
common geniuses, which spring up occasionally to pro- 
duce revolutions and overturn the established order of 
things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United 
States, he would perhaps be the founder of an empire 
that would rival in glory that of Mexico or Peru. No 
difficulties deter him. His activity and industry supply 
the want of letters. For four years he has been in con- 
stant motion. You see him today on the Wabash, and in 
a short time you hear of him on the shores of Lake Erie 
or Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi, and 
wherever he goes he makes an impression favorable to 
his purposes." 

While these stirring events were happening at the 
frontier capital, and on the thirty-first of July, a consid- 
erable body of the citizens of Vincennes, both English 
and French, met at the seminary building, and after 
selecting Ephraim Jordan as president and one James 
Smith as secretary, certain resolutions were "fallen into," 
which vividly portray the emotions of the frontiersmen 
of that day and their dire apprehension of impending 
danger. The resolutions stated in substance that the 
safety of the persons and property of the inhabitants 
could never be effectively secured, but by the breaking up 
of the combination formed on the Wabash by the Shaw- 
nee Prophet; that the inhabitants regarded this combi- 
nation as a British scheme; that but for the prompt 



THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL 351 

measures of Governor Harrison, it was highly probable 
that the town would have been destroyed and the in- 
habitants massacred. The Rev. Samuel T. Scott, the Rev. 
Alexander Devin, Colonel Luke Decker, Francis Vigo and 
others, were appointed as a committee to draft an ad- 
dress to the President of the United States, setting forth 
their situation and praying for relief. On the same day 
this address was duly formulated and signed by the com- 
mittee above mentioned, and forwarded to the chief execu- 
tive of the nation. In it, the citizens breathed forth their 
terrors and fear of the Wabash banditti, and their alarm 
at the constant depredations committed on the frontier. 
One passage is significant. **The people have become 
irritated and alarmed, and if the government will not 
direct their energies, we fear that the innocent will feel 
the effects of their resentment, and a general war be the 
consequence." A temper of this kind could not long be 
disregarded. Temporizing must cease. 



\ 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 

— The rally of the Kentuckians and their clansmen in 
southern Indiana to Harrison's support — The coming of 
the support of the Fourth United States Regiment — The 
march to the Tippecanoe battlefield. 

In the summer and early autumn of the year 1811, 
the British were again distributing arms and ammunition 
among the tribes of the northwest and rallying them for 
that second and final struggle with the United States. In 
August of that year a Potawatomi chief informed Har- 
rison that he was present when a message from the 
British agent was delivered to the Prophet, "telling him 
that the time had arrived for taking up arms, and in- 
viting him to send a party to Maiden to receive the neces- 
sary supplies." A statement made by Captain Benjamin 
Parke of the light dragoons of Vincennes, to the Gov- 
ernor on the thirteenth of September, was to the effect 
that the Indians of the Wabash and the Illinois had re- 
cently visited Elliott at Maiden; "that they are now re- 
turning from thence with a larger supply of goods than 
is known ever to have been distributed to them before; 
that rifles or fusees are given to those who are unarmed, 
and powder and lead to all." A similar communication 
made by the Hon. Waller Taylor, a judge of the supreme 
court of the Territory, stated that, "The spirit of hos- 
tility manifested by the Prophet and his followers (who, 

352 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 353 



it is said, are daily increasing) ; the thefts and murders 
committed within a few months past, and the unusual 
quantities of arms, ammunition, etc., which not only these, 
but the Indians generally have received from the British 
agent at Fort Maiden, strongly evidence a disposition to 
commence war as soon as a fit opportunity occurs." 

In this same month of September, Touissant Dubois, 
a French-Canadian agent of the Governor's, reported to 
him that all the Indians along the Wabash had been, or 
were then, on a visit to the British agency. "He (Dubois) 
has been in the Indian trade thirty years and has never 
known, as he thinks, more than one-fourth as many 
goods given to the Indians as they are now distributing. 
He examined the share of one man (not a chief) and 
found that he had received an elegant rifle, 25 pounds of 
powder, 50 of lead, 3 blankets, 3 strouds of cloth, 10 
shirts, and several other articles. He says that every 
Indian is furnished with a gun (either rifle or fusil) , and 
an abundance of ammunition. A trader of this country 
was lately at the King's stores at Maiden. He saw 150 
kegs of powder (supposed to contain about 60 pounds 
each), and he was told that the quantity of goods for 
the Indian Department which had been sent over this 
year exceeded that of common years by twenty thousand 
pounds sterling. It is impossible to ascribe this profu- 
sion to any other motive than that of instigating the In- 
dians to take up the tomahawk. It cannot be to secure 
their trade, for all the peltries collected on the waters 
of the Wabash in one year, if sold in the London market, 
would not pay the freight of the goods which have been 
given to the Indians." The contagion of unrest, thus 



354 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

encouraged and cultivated, was, as Captain Parke ob- 
served, rapidly spreading to all the tribes of the Wabash, 
the lakes and the Mississippi, and the influence of the 
Prophet was daily increasing. Unless the nest of banditti 
at Tippecanoe was broken up, the axe would quickly fall 
on all the settlements. 

The plans of the Governor were speedily formed and 
most energetically carried forward. His purposes were, 
to call upon the tribes to immediately deliver up any and 
all of their people who had been concerned in the mur- 
ders on the frontier; to require them to fulfill "that ar- 
ticle of the Treaty of Greenville which obliges them to 
give information and to stop any parties passing through 
their districts with hostile intentions ;" to further require 
them to cause such of their warriors as had joined the 
Prophet to immediately return to their tribes, or be put 
out of their protection. Of the Miamis he would demand 
an absolute disavowal of all further connection with the 
Prophet, and a disapprobation of his continued occupancy 
of their lands. All the tribes were to be reminded of the 
lenity, justice and continued consideration of the United 
States, and the efforts of the government to civilize them 
and promote their happiness, and warned that in case 
they took up the tomahawk against their fathers, no fur- 
ther mercies might be expected. To enforce these re- 
quirements, spread terror among the recalcitrant, and 
give strength to the wavering, he proposed to move up 
to the upper line of the New Purchase with two com- 
panies of regulars, fourteen or fifteen companies of 
militia, and two troops of dragoons. He hoped thus to 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 355 

dissolve the Prophet's bands without the effusion of 
blood, but in case of a continued defiiance he proposed to 
march into the Indian country and enforce his demands 
with sword in hand. 

Immediately after the conference with Tecumseh 
the Governor had sent a message to the Miami 
chiefs who had accompanied the Shawnee leader, requir- 
ing their return to Vincennes, that he might confer with 
them on measures of peace. To this demand they re- 
turned an insolent reply and refused to come. He then 
dispatched Touissant Dubois with a written speech to 
the Miami, Eel river and Wea tribes. 

"My children: My eyes are open and I am now 
looking toward the Wabash. I see a dark cloud hanging 
over it. Those who have raised it intended it for my 
destruction, but I will turn it upon their heads." 

"My children: I hoped that you would not be in- 
jured by this cloud. You have seen it gathering. You 
had timely notice to keep clear of it. The thunder be- 
gins to roll; take care that it does not burst upon your 
heads." 

"My children : I now speak plainly to you. What is 
that great collection of people at the mouth of the Tippe- 
canoe intended for? I am not blind, my children. I can 
easily see what their object is. Those people have boasted 
that they will find me asleep, but they will be deceived." 

"My children : Do not suppose that I will be foolish 
enough to suffer them to go on with their preparations 
until they are ready to strike my people. No. I have 
watched their motions. I know what they wish to do, 



356 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and you know it also. Listen, then, to what I say. I 
will not suffer any more strange Indians to settle on the 
Wabash. Those that are there, and do not belong there, 
shall disperse and go to their own tribes." 

"My Children: When you made the treaty with 
General Wayne you promised that if you knew of any 
parties of Indians passing through your country with 
hostile intentions toward us, that you would give us notice 
of it and endeavor to stop them. I now inform you that 
I consider all those who join the Prophet and his party 
as hostile, and call upon you to fulfill your engagements. 
I have also sent to the tribes who have any of their war- 
riors with the Prophet, to withdraw them immediately. 
Those who do not comply, I shall consider to have let go 
the chain of friendship which united us." 

"My Children: Be wise and listen to my voice. I 
fear that you have got on a road that will lead you to 
destruction. Have pity upon your women and children. 
It is time that my friends should be known. I shall draw 
a line. Those who keep me by the hand must keep on 
one side of it, and those that adhere to the Prophet on 
the other." 

"My children : Take your choice. My warriors are 
in arms but they shall do you no hurt unless you force 
me to it. But I must have satisfaction for the murder 
of my people and the war pole that has been raised on the 
Wabash must be taken down." 

When Dubois arrived at the Miami town with the 
above message, the chieftains were all preparing to go 
to Maiden. The words of the Governor called them to a 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 357 

sudden halt. They must now determine whether they 
would further listen to the counsel of the Prophet and 
accept presents from the British, or remain on terms of 
friendship with the United States. No further wavering 
or delay would be tolerated. 

In the council which followed, Lapoussier was inso- 
lent and told Dubois that the Miamis had received no 
notice whatever of any hostile intention on the part of 
the Prophet; that they (the Miamis) would defend their 
lands to the last man, and that the Governor was making 
himself contemptible in the eyes of all. These bold decla- 
rations were approved by Pecan, the Big Man, Negro 
Legs, Osage, and Sa-na-mah-hon-ga, or The One That 
Eats Stones, commonly known as the Stone Eater. The 
words of Little Turtle were of a different tone. He then 
and afterwards, affirmed his allegiance to the United 
States. While he prayed the Governor to avoid if pos- 
sible the shedding of blood, he still proclaimed that the 
lands on the Wabash were the property of the Miamis; 
that they had endeavored to stop the Prophet from going 
there, and that his settlement was made without their 
consent. "I told my people when they were going to see 
the Governor not to say anything respecting the land; 
that the treaty was made and it was a fair one. They had 
signed the paper which bound the sale of the lands, and 
that nothing further should be said on the subject. I 
also charged them whatever they did, to have nothing to 
do with the Prophet ; that the Prophet was an enemy of 
Governor Harrison's and Governor Harrison's of his; 
that if they formed any kind of connection with the 
Prophet it would make the Governor an enemy of theirs." 



358 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

While these events were going forward, the Governor 
was making preparations for his expedition up the Wa- 
bash. The noise of the coming storm soon reached the 
ears of the Kentuckians. On the twenty-fourth of Au- 
gust, Joseph Hamilton Daviess wrote to the Governor 
offering himself as a volunteer. He had been instrumental 
in checking the treasonable designs of Aaron Burr, was 
Master of the Grand Lodge of Free Masons of the state 
of Kentucky, and was one of the most eloquent advocates 
at the bar of his state. His coming was hailed with eager 
joy by the rough militiamen of the frontier. In the 
latter part of the month Harrison was in Louisville ask- 
ing for volunteers. His call, says Pirtle, "was met with 
a prompt and ample response. He was very popular, his 
voice stirring the people like a bugle call. Old Indian 
fighters like Major General Samuel Wells and Colonel 
Abraham Owen, of the Kentucky militia, instantly started 
for the field." Captain Frederick Geiger raised a com- 
pany, and Captain Peter Funk, who was in command of 
a company of militia cavalry, at once hastened to Gover- 
nor Charles Scott of Kentucky, to obtain permission to 
raise a company of mounted riflemen. In a few days his 
m.en were enrolled and early in September joined the 
forces of Colonel Joseph Bartholomew on their march 
to Vincennes. 

On the third of September, the regular troops of the 
Fourth United States Regiment of infantry, under Col- 
onel John Parke Boyd, arrived in keel boats at the Falls 
of the Ohio. The Governor was there to meet them, Boyd 
was a soldier of fortune and one of the most striking 
military adventurers of that day. A short sketch of him 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 359 

as given by Benson J. Lossing is as follows : "John Parke 
Boyd was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Decem- 
ber 21, 1764. His father was from Scotland, and his 
mother was a descendant of Tristam Coffin, the first of 
that family who emigrated to America. He entered the 
army in 1786, as ensign in the Second Regiment. With 
a spirit of adventure, he went to India in 1789, having 
first touched the Isle of France, In a letter to his father 
from Madras, in June, 1790, he says: 'Having procured 
recommendatory letters to the British consul residing 
at the court of his highness, the Nizam, I proceeded to 
his capital, Hyberabad, 450 miles from Madras. On my 
arrival, I was presented to his highness in form by the 
British consul. My reception was as favorable as my 
most sanguine wishes had anticipated. After the usual 
ceremony was over, he presented me with the command 
of two kansolars of infantry, each of which consists of 
500 men.' His commission and pay were in accordance 
with his command. He describes the army of the Nizam, 
which had taken the field against Tippoo Sultan. It con- 
sisted of 150,000 infantry, 60,000 cavalry, and 500 ele- 
plants, each elephant supporting a 'castle' containing a 
nabob and servants. He remained in India several years 
in a sort of guerrilla service, and obtained much favor. 
He was in Paris early in 1808 and at home in the autumn 
of that year, when he was appointed (October 2) Colonel 
of the Fourth Regiment of the U. S. Army." This tall, 
handsome and courteous officer, who had fought with the 
hordes of India on the other side of the world, was shortly 
to encounter the eagle-feathered chiefs of the Winneba- 
goes on the banks of the Wabash. 



360 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

On the night of the 19th of September the regulars 
of the Fourth Regiment arrived at Vincennes by way of 
the Wabash. They were under the immediate command 
of Colonel James Miller, of "I'll try, Sir," fame in the 
War of 1812. The Governor and Colonel Boyd had al- 
ready traveled overland on horseback from Louisville. 
The sight which greeted the eyes of the old French resi- 
dents on the morning of the twentieth, was a novel one. 
The American infantry of that period wore a uniform 
consisting of "blue, brass-buttoned tail-coats, skin-tight 
pantaloons, and 'stove-pipe hats,' with red, white and blue 
cockades." One pictures them marching in the brown 
October woods, their bayonets gleaming in the sunshine, 
and their bugles awakening strange echoes from headland 
and bluff. The regiment, though small, was made up of a 
formidable array of men. While not disciplined in In- 
dian warfare, the rank and file were composed of brave, 
resolute soldiers, and such officers as Captains W. C. 
Baen, Josiah Snelling, Robert C. Barton, Return B. 
Brown, George W. Prescott and Joel Cook, were of the best 
of that time. The gallant Baen was on his last march, 
and his bones were destined to repose in a savage wild- 
erness. 

A military conference was now held, participated in 
by Governor Harrison, Colonel Boyd, and two judges of 
the supreme court, Benjamin Parke and Waller Taylor, 
both of whom were officers in the local militia. It was 
determined to ascend the river with a respectable force, 
which would not only defy attack, but impress the tribes- 
men, if possible, with a due respect for the power and 
authority of the United States. The Prophet, though 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 361 

not a warrior, was known, as Harrison says, to be, "dar- 
ing, presumptuous and rash." He was now reinforced 
by a considerable body of Winnebago warriors, and the 
Potawatomi of the prairies and the Illinois were coming 
to his support. A small expedition would not only excite 
contempt, but might lead to a disaster. 

Accordingly, on the morning of the twenty-sixth of 
September, an army of about one thousand men, includ- 
ing one hundred and forty dragoons and sixty mounted 
riflemen, commenced its march to the upper end of the 
New Purchase. The cavalry had been sent forward two 
days before to the settlement of Busseron, where forage 
for the horses could more easily be procured. Just be- 
fore the departure of the army, a deputation of warriors 
arrived from the Prophet's Town, led by a war chief of 
the hostile Kickapoos. He expressed his astonishment at 
seeing such warlike preparations, said that his women and 
children were all in tears, and falsely asserted that the 
hearts of all the Prophet's party were warm towards the 
United States. The Governor peremptorily informed the 
Kickapoo that the army was about to march, and that 
nothing but an immediate surrender of the Indian mur- 
derers and horse-thieves would satisfy the government. 
The mount of Captain William Piatt, chief quartermaster 
of the expedition, and four horses from Busseron had 
just been stolen, and all further dissimulation on the part 
of the savages was without avail. 

The account of the march, as recorded by Captain 
John Tipton, is exceedingly interesting. The militiamen 
of southern Indiana and Kentucky assembled from the 



362 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

frontier settlements, were men of simple habits, rough, 
unlettered, hard to teach the intricacies of military evolu- 
tions, but as General John C. Black has stated, they were 
also "insensible to fatigue, watchful as a catamount, reso- 
lute as men, heroic as martyrs." Some of their favorite 
sports were wrestling, shooting at a mark, and horse- 
racing. All were inured to an active, outdoor life. Most 
of them were without tents and few had blankets, but 
they did not complain. As the army advanced through 
the wilderness, the cutting down of bee trees, the shooting 
of squirrels, raccoon and deer were everyday occurrences ; 
horses strayed away and were recovered; the provision 
boats lodged on the sand bars in the river and were 
launched again ; stories of adventure and midnight mas- 
sacre were told about the great camp fires. All came 
from families who had suffered from savage outrage; 
all hated both British and Indians "with a holy hate,'* 
and all were determined that the forces of civilization 
should not recede. They were eager for battle and un- 
afraid. 

On the second of October the army arrived at Terre 
Haute or "high land," said to be the scene of a bloody 
battle between the ancient tribe of the Illinois and the 
Iroquois. The place was designated by the old French 
traders and settlers as "Bataille des Illinois." A few old 
apple and peach trees still marked the site of an ancient 
Indian village. About two miles from this location was 
a town of the Weas. Harrison immediately began the 
erection of a quadrangular stockaded fort, with a block- 
house at three of the angles. This fortification, amid 
much celebrating, was, on Sunday, the twenty-seventh 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 363 

of October, christened as Fort Harrison. An oration was 
delivered on the occasion by Joseph Hamilton Davis. 

All doubt of the Prophet's hostility was now dis- 
pelled. He had committed open acts of war on the 
United States. While the army was on the march to 
Terre Haute a party of the Prophet's raiders, in open day- 
light, took eight horses from a settlement in the Illinois 
Territory about thirty miles above Vincennes. At eight 
o'clock, on the evening of the tenth of October, a sentinel 
belonging to the Fourth United States Regiment was 
fired on and badly wounded by savages prowling about 
the camp. 'The army was immediately turned out," says 
Harrison, "and formed in excellent order in a very few 
minutes. Patrols were dispatched in every direction, but 
the darkness was such that pursuit was impracticable. 
Other alarms took place in the course of the night, prob- 
ably without good cause, but the troops manifested an 
alertness in taking their positions which was highly grat- 
ifying to me." On the evening of the eleventh, John 
Conner and four of the Delaware chiefs came into camp. 
Before leaving Vincennes, Harrison had sent a request 
that some of their chiefs might meet him on the march, 
for the purpose of undertaking embassies of peace to 
the different tribes. On the sixth of October, many of 
them had set out from their towns, but were met on the 
way by a deputation from the Prophet's Town. This 
deputation declared that the followers of the Prophet 
had taken up the tomahawk against the United States, 
"and that they would lay it down only with their lives." 
They were confident of victory and required a categorical 
answer from the Delawares to the question of whether 



364 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

they would or would not join them in the coming war.i 
Conner and the four chiefs were immediately sent toi 
report to Harrison, and another party ordered forward^! 
to Tippecanoe to remonstrate with the Prophet. On thet 
twenty-seventh the latter party reported to the Governor' 
at Fort Harrison. They had been insulted and badly 
treated by the Prophet and were dismissed with con- 
tempt. During their stay with the Shawnee leader, the 
warriors arrived who had fired on the sentinel at Terre 
Haute. They were Shawnees and the Prophet's nearest 
friends. 

Harrison now resolved to immediately march to Tip- 
pecanoe and demand satisfaction. To return to Vin- 
cennes with his troops without effecting a dispersion or 
humiliation of the Prophet's party would be attended with 
the most fatal consequences. "If he is thus presumptu- 
ous upon our advance," writes the Governor, "our return 
without chastising him, or greatly alarming his fears and 
those of his followers, would give him an eclat that would 
increase his followers, and we would have to wage through 
the winter a defensive war which would greatly distress 
our frontiers." The Governor's display of force on the 
Wabash had not had the desired effect. While some of 
the Weas were returning to their villages, and the Wyan- 
dots were reported to be urging the tribes to fall away 
from the Prophet, still the spirit of treachery was abroad 
in the whole Wabash country. The Miami chiefs arrived 
for an apparently friendly council, but the Stone Eater 
was vacillating, and already under the influence of the 
Prophet. Winamac, who had made so many professions 
of friendliness towards the government, was now rallying 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 365 

his forces on the side of the Shawnee. Reinforcements 
of savage Kickapoos and Potawatomi from the Illinois 
river were beating down the great trails on the way to 
Tippecanoe. The constant and continued influence of the 
British, the "ridiculous and superstitious pranks" of the 
Shawnee impostor, and the natural fear and jealousy of 
all the tribesmen, on account of their lands, had at last 
cemented the savage union. The young men and braves 
of all the clans were ranged in either open or secret hos- 
tility against the United States. 

The forces at the Prophet's Town were estimated at 
about six hundred. At a council of the officers it was de- 
cided to send for a reinforcement of four companies, but 
without waiting for their return, to at once take up the 
march, as all forage for the horses would soon disappear. 
On the twenty-ninth of October the army moved forward. 
It consisted of about six hundred and forty foot and two 
hundred and seventy mounted men. Two hundred and 
fifty of these were regulars, about sixty were Kentuc- 
kians, and the remainder were Indiana militia, raised at 
Corydon, Vincennes, and points along the Wabash and 
Ohio rivers. "The militia," says Harrison, "are the best 
I ever saw, and Colonel Boyd's regiment is a fine body 
of men." Along with the army rolled nineteen wagons 
and one cart to transport the supplies, as the winding 
course of the river and the nature of the ground near it, 
rendered their further transportation by boats impractic- 
able. The Governor at the last moment sent forward a 
message to the Prophet's Town requiring the immediate 
disbandment of the Winnebago, Potawatomi and Kicka- 
poo followers of the Shawnee, the surrender of all mur- 



366 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

derers, and the delivery up of all stolen horses. "I am 
determined," wrote Harrison to Governor Scott of Ken- 
tucky, "to disperse the Prophet's banditti before I return, 
or give him the chance of acquiring as much fame as a 
warrior, as he now has as a saint." 

On Thursday, the thirty-first, the army crossed the 
northern line of the New Purchase at Raccoon Creek, 
and a few hours later forded the Wabash at Montezuma. 
The water was very deep and the troops and wagons were 
three hours in making the passage. The east bank of 
the river had been reconnoitered for several miles up and 
a feint made as though to cut a wagon road, but the 
country on the left bank afforded too many opportunities 
for an ambuscade, and Harrison now resolved to strike 
the open prairies toward the state line. On the first of 
November the army encamped on the west side of the 
Wabash about two or three miles below the mouth of the 
Big Vermilion, and as it had been determined to take 
forward the provisions from this point in wagons, a small 
blockhouse, twenty-five feet square was here erected, with 
a breastwork at each corner next to the river, to receive 
supplies from the boats. Remnants of the old landing 
were still to be seen in 1914. Logs and brush were now 
employed to level down the great horse weeds that filled 
the lowlands, and corduroy roads made for the passage 
of the wagons to the uplands at the west. Major General 
Samuel Wells, Colonel Abraham Owen and Captain Fred- 
erick Geiger had now arrived with some of the Kentucky 
volunteers, and the army, after leaving a guard of eight 
men at the blockhouse, at once crossed the Big Vermilion 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 367 

at the site of the old Kickapoo village and entered upon 
Sand Prairie at the north. 

Harrison was now in the heart of the hostile Kicka- 
poo country. Like his old commander Wayne, he main- 
tained a most diligent lookout. The army was moving 
forward with mounted men in advance, in the rear and 
on both flanks. The infantry marched in two columns of 
files, one on either side of the road. The heavy army 
wagons drawn by oxen, and the beeves and led animals 
were in the center. A company of twelve scouts under 
the command of Captain Touissant Dubois closely scan- 
ned every place of danger and pointed out the army's 
way. 

Late on the third of November, the frontiersmen saw 
for the first time the great prairies of the west, stretching 
north to Chicago and west to the Mississippi. They 
camped that night in Round Grove, near the present town 
of Sloan. An abundance of blue grass carpeted the shel- 
tered ground and a fine spring of water supplied fresh 
drink. All the next day the great wheels of the lumber- 
ing baggage wagons cut through the sod of the Warren 
prairies, leaving a long trail over the plains that was 
plainly traceable for a half century afterwards. Night 
found the army encamped on the east bank of Pine creek, 
above the site of the old Brier milldam. An old bayonet 
of the revolutionary type was long years afterward 
picked up in an adjoining wheat field and is now lodged 
in the Babcock museum at Goodland. The dangerous 
passes to the south had been avoided and scouts were 
posted far down the stream to avoid the danger of a night 
attack. 



368 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

Wednesday the sixth, it was very cold. Indian signs 
were now observed for the first time, the scouts caught 
four Indian horses, and parties of savages were constant- 
ly lurking on the skirts of the advancing forces. Every 
effort to hold conversation with them, however, was in 
vain. At a distance of about four miles from the Prophet's 
Town the army was formed in order of battle, and moved 
forward with great caution. The scouts had evidently 
picked out a poor path, for the army now found itself 
on dangerous ground, and Harrison was obliged to change 
the position of the several corps three times in the dis- 
tance of a mile, to avoid the peril of an ambuscade. 

At half past two o'clock in the afternoon the troops 
crossed Burnet's Creek at a distance of one and one-half 
miles from the town, and again formed in order of bat- 
tle. Captain Dubois, now offering to go to the Indian 
camp with a flag, was sent forward with an interpreter 
to request a conference. The savages knew Dubois well, J 
but they now appeared on either flank and attempted to 
cut him off from the army. Harrison recalled him and 
determined to encamp for the night. 

In the meantime, the impatient Major Daviess had 
advanced to the Indian corn fields along the river with a 
party of dragoons. He now returned ^nd reported that 
the Indians were very hostile and had answered every 
attempt to bring them to a parley with insolence and con- 
tempt. He, together with all the officers, advised an im- 
mediate attack. Harrison was mindful of the President's 
injunctions. He did not wish to bring on a conflict until 
all efforts for peace had failed. He ordered the army to 



THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH 369 

advance, but placed the interpreters at the front, with 
directions to invite a conference with any Indians that 
they might meet with. 

After proceeding about four hundred yards, the ad- 
vance guard was approached by three Indians who ex- 
pressed a wish to see the Go^ .rnor. One of them was a 
chief closely connected with the Prophet. He told Har- 
rison that they were surprised at his rapid advance upon 
them ; that they had been given to understand by a party 
of Delawares and Miamis whom the Governor had sent 
forward, that he would not march on their town until an 
answer had been made to his demands ; that Winamac had 
been detailed two days before to meet the Governor and 
arrange terms, but that he had proceeded down the south 
side of the Wabash. These statements were all false, 
but the General answered that he had no intention of 
attacking them until he was convinced that they would 
not comply with his demands, and that he would now go 
forward and encamp on the river. In the morning, an 
interview would be held and he would communicate to 
them the determination of the President. The march was 
then resumed. 

The Indian corn lands extended for a great distance 
along the river and the ground was so broken and uneven, 
and the timber had been cleared away to such an extent, 
that no suitable place could be found for a camp. The 
troops were now almost upon the town, when fifty or 
sixty savages sallied forth and with loud cries called upon 
the cavalry and militia to halt. The Governor immedi- 
ately pressed to the front, and directed the interpreter 



370 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

to request some of the chiefs to come near. Harrison 
now informed them that his only object for the present 
was to secure a camp, where he might find wood and 
water. The chiefs informed him that there was a creek 
to the northwest that would suit his purpose, and after 
mutual promises of a suspension of hostilities until the 
following day, the interview was brought to an end. 

Majors Waller Taylor and Marston G. Clark, aides 
to the Governor, were now detailed to select a site for an 
encampment. The ground chosen was the destined battle- 
field of Tippecanoe. "It was a piece of dry oak land rising 
about ten feet above the level of a marshy prairie in 
front, (towards the Indian town), and nearly twice that 
height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which, 
and near to this bank, ran a small stream clothed with 
willows and brush wood. Towards the left flank this 
bench of high land widened considerably, but became 
gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the 
distance of one hundred and fifty yards from the right 
flank, terminated in an abrupt point." 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 

— The night attack on Harrison's forces. — The destruc- 
tion of Tecumseh's Confederacy. 

An inverted fiatiron pointing to the east of south — 
that is the battle ground of Tippecanoe. The western edge 
is the sheer bank of Burnet's Creek. A savage would 
have some difficulty in climbing there. Back of the 
creek is a low marsh, filled with cat-tails and long grass. 
The surface of the flatiron is a sandy plain with scattering 
oaks, and sloping towards the east. At the north the plain 
widens, but comes to an abrupt point at the southern end. 
To the east and in the direction of the Prophet's Town 
is a wet prairie. The Kickapoos said that Harrison's 
choice of a camping place was excellent. 

Late in the evening the army arrives and takes up 
its position. Axes are scarce and there is no time to erect 
a breastwork of trees. Firewood must be cut to warm 
the shivering troops. The militia have no tents and 
blankets are scarce. Low scudding clouds betoken a cold 
November rain. The regulars are split into two bat- 
talions of four companies each. One is placed on the left 
front facing the east. This is under the command of 
Major George Rogers Clark Floyd. Under him are the 
companies of Baen, Snelling and Prescott, and a small 
company of United States riflemen armed with muskets. 
On his right are two companies of Indiana militia com- 

371 



372 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bartholomew. The 
second battalion of regulars is placed in the left rear 
and is commanded by Captain William C. Baen, acting 
as major. To the right of this battalion are four com- 
panies of Indiana militia, commanded by Captains Josiah 
Snelling, Jr., John Posey, Thomas Scott and Jacob War- 
rick, all of whom are under the leadership of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Luke Decker. Warrick's company is in the south- 
western corner of the camp, and next to the mounted 
riflemen under Spencer. The left flank is filled up by 
two companies of mounted riflemen under the command 
of Major-General Samuel Wells, of the Kentucky militia, 
acting as major. Back of these riflemen are two troops 
of dragoons under Major Joseph Hamilton Daviess, and 
in the rear of the front lines are the Light Dragoons of 
Vincennes, led by Captain Benjamin Parke. The right 
flank is made up of the famous Yellow Jackets of Har- 
rison county, Indiana. They wear yellow flannel hunting 
shirts with a red fringe and hats with red plumes. Their 
officers are Captain Spier Spencer, sheriff of his county ; 
First-Lieutenant Richard McMahan, Second-Lieutenant 
Thomas Berry, and Ensign John Tipton. Spencer is of 
a Kentucky family, his mother has been an Indian cap- 
tive when a girl, and his fourteen year old son accom- 
panies him on the expedition, bearing a rifle. The dis- 
tance between the front and rear lines on the left flank 
is about one hundred and fifty yards, and something more 
than half that distance on the right flank. In the center 
of the camp are the headquarters of the Governor, the 
wagons and baggage, and the beef cattle. 

Night is now coming on apace and the great camp 



THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 373 

fires of the army shed a cheerful glow on men and horses, 
arms and accouterments. Harrison is watchful. While 
neither he nor his officers expect a night attack, still he 
bears in mind that he is in the heart of the Indian coun- 
try and only a mile and a quarter from the Prophet'i 
village. A council of the officers is held and all placed 
in readiness for instant action. The camp, in form, is an 
irregular parallelogram, and troops may be rushed to 
at once reinforce any point assailed. The troops are 
formed in single rank and maneuver easily — extension 
of the lines is readily accomplished. The order of en- 
campment is the order of battle. Every man must sleep 
opposite his post. In case of attack the soldiers are to 
arise, step to the rear of the fires, and instantly form in 
line. The line thus formed is to hold its ground until 
further relieved. The dragoons are to parade dismounted, 
with their pistols in their belts, and to act as a corps de 
reserve. The whole camp is surrounded by two captains' 
guards, each consisting of four non-commissioned offi- 
cers and forty-two men, and two subalterns' guards, of 
twenty non-commissioned officers and privates. The reg- 
ulars retire with accouterments on, and their arms by 
their sides. The tired militia, having no tents, sleep with 
their arms under them to keep them dry. Captain Cook, 
of the Fourth Regiment records that he slept with his 
boots and great coat on, and with his trusty rifle clasped 
in his arms. The infantry bear cartridges each loaded 
with twelve buckshot. These are intended for a rain 
of death. 

In the meantime, the fearful Prophet is filled with 
doubt. Now that the hour of destiny is at hand, his heart 



374 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

fails him. He counsels caution and a postponement of 
the fight. He urges that a treaty be entered into ; a com- 
pliance made with the demands of the Governor, and 
that the Potawatomi murderers be surrendered up. The 
army must be thrown off its guard and a treacherous 
attack made on its return home. But the young men and 
warriors think otherwise. Has not the Prophet told them 
that the white man's bullets are harmless, and that his 
powder will turn to sand? Why hesitate? The army 
is now asleep and will never awake. Let the Magic Bowl 
be produced, the sacred torch and the "Medean fire." 
Let there be death to all ! 

At a quarter past four o'clock in the morning the 
Governor arises to pull on his boots. The moon is now 
obscured, and a drizzly rain is falling. The camp fires 
are still burning, but beyond the lines of sleeping men, 
all is darkness and gloom. The sentinels out there in 
the night are listening to strange sounds. Through the 
tall grass of the swamp lands terrible forms are creeping, 
like snakes on their bellies, towards the camp. The 
painted and feather-bedecked warriors of the Prophet 
are surrounding the army. 

In two minutes more an aide is to awake the drum- 
mer and have him ready by the fire to beat the reveille, 
when all at once the attack begins. A sentinel, standing 
on the bank of Burnet's Creek near the northwestern 
angle of the camp, sees an object crawling on the ground. 
He fires and runs toward the line — the next moment he 
is shot down. With demon yells the savages burst upon 
the ranks of Captain Barton's company and Geiger's 
riflemen. 



THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 375 

In an instant the camp is alive and the men spring 
to arms, but there is no disorder or confusion. In Bar- 
ton's company a sergeant and two privates are up re- 
new^ing the fires, and immediately give the alarm. Two 
savages penetrate the camps but are killed within twenty 
yards of the line. A corporal in Barton's company is 
shot as he steps to the door of his tent. Another corporal 
and a private are killed and a sergeant wounded as the 
lines are forming, but immediately afterwards a heavy 
fire is opened and the charging red skins are driven back. 
The attack on the Kentuckians is particularly ferocious. 
A hand to hand fight ensues. One of Geiger's men loses 
his gun and the captain runs to his tent to get him an- 
other. He finds some savages there "ransacking its con- 
tents, and prodding their knives into everything." One 
of them attempts to kill the captain with a tomahawk, 
but is immediately slain. 

At the first alarm the Governor calls for his white 
horse, but the shots and yells terrify that animal and 
he breaks his tether. Harrison now mounts a bay and 
rides to the first point of attack, Colonel Abraham Owen 
at his side. Owen is killed, a lock of the Governor's hair 
is cut away by a bullet, but he brings up Wentworth's 
company under Lieutenant George P. Peters, and Captain 
Joel Cook's from the rear line, and forms them across the 
angle in support of Barton and Geiger. 

Nothing like this fury has ever been witnessed be- 
fore. The rattling of dried deer hoofs and the shrieks 
of the warriors resound on every hand. In a few mo- 
ments the fire extends along the whole front, both flanks, 



376 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

and a part of the rear line. The fierce Winnebagoes, with 
tall eagle feathers in their scalp locks, rush upon the 
bayonets, attempt to push them aside, and cut down the 
men. It avails them nothing. The iron discipline of the 
regulars holds them firm. On every hand the soldiers 
kick out the fires, re-load their guns and settle down to 
the fight. 

In the first mad rushes, the company of David Robb 
posted on the left flank, gives way, or through some error 
in orders, retires to the center of the camp. Harrison 
sees the mistake on the instant and orders Snelling to 
cover the left flank. Snelling is alert, and at the first 
gun seizes his sword and forms his company into line. 
The dangerous gap is at once filled, and the companies 
close up. But a murderous fire now assails them on the 
front from behind some fallen logs and trees. Daviess 
with his dragoons is behind the lines, and impatient of 
restraint. Twice he asks the Governor for orders to 
charge — the third time a reluctant consent is given. The 
regulars open up, the brave Major with eight of his 
men pass through the ranks, and the next moment he is 
mortally wounded. Snelling's company with levelled 
bayonets clear the field. 

Prodigies of valor are being performed on the right 
flank. Spencer is there and his famous Yellow Jackets. 
If the regulars have been valorous, the mounted riflemen 
of Harrison County have been brilliant. Harrison rides 
down and calls for the Captain. A slip of a boy answers : 
"He is dead, sir." "Where is your lieutenant?" "He is 
dead." "Where is your second lieutenant?" "He is dead." 



THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 377 

"Where is your ensign?" The answer came, "I am he." 
The General compliments him and tells him to hold the 
line. Spencer is wounded in the head, but exhorts his 
men to fight. He is shot through both thighs and falls, 
but from the ground encourages his men to stand. They 
raise him up, but a ball puts an immediate end to his 
brave career. To the rear of Spencer is the giant War- 
rick. He is shot through the body and taken to the sur- 
gery to be dressed. His wounds bound up, he insists on 
going back to the head of his company, although he has 
but a few hours to live. Thus fought and died these 
brave militiamen of the southern hills. Harrison orders 
up the company of Robb and the lines hold until the com- 
ing of the light. 

Throughout the long and trying hours of darkness 
the Governor remains cool. Mounted on his charger, he 
appears at every point along the line, and his calm and 
confident tones of command give reassurance to all his 
men. If the formation can be held intact until the coming 
of the dawn, the bayonets of the regulars and the broad- 
swords of the dragoons shall be brought into play. He 
remembers the example of the illustrious Wayne. 

As the morning approaches the fight narrows down 
to the two flanks. Here the savages will make their last 
stand. Harrison now draws the companies of Snelling, 
Posey and Scott from the front lines, and the company of 
Captain Walter Wilson from the rear, and forms them on 
the left flank. At the same time he orders Baen's com- 
pany from the front and Cook's from the rear, to form 
on the right. The infantry are to be supported by the 



378 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

dragoons. But as soon as the companies form on the 
left, Major Samuel Wells orders a charge, the Indians 
flee in front of the cold steel, and are pursued into the 
swamps by the dragoons. At the same moment the troops 
on the right dislodge the savages from behind the trees, 
and drive them headlong into the wet prairie in front. 
The battle is over. A long and deafening shout from the 
troops proclaims the victory. 

Thus ended the battle of Tippecanoe, justly famed 
in history. The intrepidity of the officers, the firm reso- 
lution of the regulars, the daring brilliancy of the militia- 
men, all brought about the desired end. The conflict 
had been severe. One hundred and eighty-eight men and 
officers were either killed or wounded. The officers slain 
were. Colonel Abraham Owen, Major Joseph Hamilton 
Daviess, Captain Jacob Warrick, Captain Spier Spencer, 
Captain William C. Baen, Lieutenant Richard McMahan, 
Lieutenant Thomas Berry, Corporal James Mitchell and 
Corporal Stephen Mars. The loss of the savages in killed 
alone was nearly forty. The number of their wounded 
could never be ascertained. They were led in battle by 
the perfidious Winamac, who had always professed to be 
the friend of the Governor, and by White Loon and the 
Stone Eater. 

In the weeks that followed the battle much censure 
of Harrison was heard, and much of the credit for the vic- 
tory was at first accorded to the United States regulars 
and Colonel Boyd. This was so manifestly unfair to 
General Harrison, that Captains Cook, Snelling and Bar- 
ton, Lieutenants Adams, Fuller, Hawkins and Gooding, 



THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE 379 

Ensign Burchstead and Surgeons Josiah D. Foster and 
Hosea Blood, all of the Fourth United States Regiment, 
signed an open statement highly laudatory of the Gov- 
ernor's talents, military science and patriotism. They 
declared that throughout the whole campaign the Gov- 
ernor demeaned himself both as a "soldier and a general," 
and that any attempt to undermine their confidence in and 
respect for the commander-in-chief, would be regarded by 
them as an "insult to their understandings and an injury 
to their feelings." The legislatures of Indiana and Ken- 
tucky passed resolutions highly commendatory of the 
Governor's military conduct and skill. 

The Indian confederacy was crushed. Tecumseh re- 
turned about the first of the year to find the forces at the 
Prophet's Town broken up and scattered, and his am- 
bitious dreams of empire forever dissipated. Nothing 
now remained for him to do but openly espouse the Brit- 
ish cause. He became the intimate and associate of the 
infamous Proctor and died in the battle at the River 
Thames. 

The battle of Tippecanoe gave great impetus to the 
military spirit in the western world and prepared the way 
for the War of 1812. Harrison became the leader of the 
frontier forces and thousands of volunteers flocked to his 
standard. The tales of valor and heroism, the stories of 
the death of Daviess and Owen, Spencer and Warrick, 
and of the long, terrible hours of contest with a savage 
foe, were recounted for years afterward around every 
fireside in southern Indiana and Kentucky, and brought 
a thrill of patriotic pride to the heart of every man, wo- 



380 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

man and child who heard them. The menace of the red 
skin was removed. During the following winter the 
frontier reposed in peace. 

The battle did more. Many of those who followed 
Harrison saw for the first time the wonderful valley of 
the upper Wabash and the boundless prairies of the 
north. In the wake of the conflict followed the forces of 
civilization, and in a few years afterward both valley 
and plain were filling up with a virile and hardy race of 
frontiersmen who laid the foundations of the new com- 
monwealth. In 1816, Indiana became a member of the 
federal union. 



CHAPTER XXV 
NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE 

— A description of the battle by one of the volunteers. 

An excellent portrait of Judge Isaac Naylor now 
hangs in the court room at Williamsport, Indiana. He 
was one of the first judges of the Montgomery circuit 
which formerly embraced both Warren and Benton. Nay- 
lor was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1790, 
and removed to Clark county, Indiana, in 1805. In 1810 
he made a journey to New Orleans on a flat-boat. While 
preparing for college the Tippecanoe campaign came on, 
and he joined Harrison's army at Vincennes. His ac- 
count of the battle is as follows : 

"I became a volunteer member of a company of rifle- 
men, and on the 12th of September, 1811, we commenced 
our march toward Vincennes, and arrived there in about 
six days, marching about 120 miles. We remained there 
about a week and took up the march to a point on the 
Wabash river, sixty miles above, on the east bank of the 
river, where we erected a stockade fort, which we named 
Fort Harrison. This was three miles above where the 
city of Terre Haute now stands. Col. Joseph H. Daviess, 
who commanded the dragoons, named the fort. The glori- 
ous defense of this fort nine months after by Captain 
Zachary Taylor was the first step in his brilliant career 
that afterwards made him President of the United States. 

381 



382 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

A few days later we took up the march again for the seat 
of Indian warfare, where we arrived on the evening of 
November 6th, 1811. 

"When the army arrived in view of the Prophet's 
Town, an Indian was seen coming toward General Har- 
rison with a white flag suspended on a pole. Here the 
army halted, and a parley was had between General Har- 
rison and an Indian delegation, who assured the General 
that they desired peace, and solemnly promised to meet 
him next day in council, to settle the terms of peace and 
friendship between them and the United States. 

"General Marston G. Clark, who was then brigade 
major, and Waller Taylor, one of the judges of the Gen- 
eral Court of the Territory of Indiana, and afterwards a 
Senator of the United States from Indiana (one of the 
General's aides), were ordered to select a place for the 
encampment, which they did. The army then marched 
to the ground selected about sunset. A strong guard was 
placed around the encampment, commanded by Captain 
James Bigger and three lieutenants. The troops were 
ordered to sleep on their arms. The night being cold, 
large fires were made along the lines of encampment and 
each soldier retired to rest, sleeping on his arms. 

"Having seen a number of squaws and children at the 
town I thought the Indians were not disposed to fight. 
About ten o'clock at night Joseph Warnock and myself 
retired to rest, he taking one side of the fire and I the 
other, the other members of our company being all 
asleep. My friend Warnock had dreamed, the night be-- 
fore, a bad dream which foreboded something fatal to 



NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE 383 

him or to some of his family, as he told me. Having 
myself no confidence in dreams, I thought but little about 
the matter, although I observed that he never smiled 
afterwards. 

"I awoke about four o'clock the next morning, after 
a sound and refreshing sleep, having heard in a dream 
the firing of guns and the whistling of bullets just before 
I awoke from my slumber. A drizzling rain was falling 
and all things were still and quiet throughout the camp. 
I was engaged in making a calculation when I should 
arrive home. 

*'In a few moments I heard the crack of a rifle in the 
direction of the point where now stands the Battle Ground 
House, which is occupied by Captain DuTiel as a tavern. 
I had just time to think that some sentinel was alarmed 
and fired his rifle without a real cause, when I heard the 
crack of another rifle, followed by an awful Indian yell 
all around the encampment. In less than a minute I saw 
the Indians charging our line most furiously and shooting 
a great many rifle balls into our camp fires, throwing 
the live coals into the air three or four feet high. 

"At this moment my friend Warnock was shot by a 
rifle ball through his body. He ran a few yards and fell 
dead on the ground. Our lines were broken and a few 
Indians were found on the inside of the encampment. In 
a few moments they were all killed. Our lines closed up 
and our men in their proper places. One Indian was 
killed in the back part of Captain Geiger's tent, while he 
was attempting to tomahawk the Captain. 

"The sentinels, closely pursued by the Indians, came 



384 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

to the lines of the encampment in haste and confusion. 
My brother, William Naylor, was on guard. He was pur- 
sued so rapidly and furiously that he ran to the nearest 
point on the left flank, where he remained with a com- 
pany of regular soldiers until the battle was near its 
termination. A young man, whose name was Daniel 
Pettit, was pursued so closely and furiously by an Indian 
as he was running from the guard line to our lines, that 
to save his life he cocked his rifle as he ran and turning 
suddenly around, placed the muzzle of his gun against the 
body of the Indian and shot an ounce ball through him. 
The Indian fired his gun at the same instant, but it being 
longer than Pettit's, the muzzle passed by him and set 
fire to a handkerchief which he had tied around his head. 
The Indians made four or five most fierce charges on our 
lines, yelling and screaming as they advanced, shooting 
balls and arrows into our ranks. At each charge they 
were driven back in confusion, carrying off their dead 
and wounded as they retreated. 

"Colonel Owen, of Shelby County, Kentucky, one of 
General Harrison's volunteer aides, fell early in action 
by the side of the General. He was a member of the 
legislature at the time of his death. Colonel Daviess was 
mortally wounded early in the battle, gallantly charging 
the Indians on foot with his sword and pistols, according 
to his own request. He made this request three times of 
General Harrison, before he was permitted to make the 
charge. The charge was made by himself and eight dra- 
goons on foot near the angle formed by the left flank 
and front line of the encampment. Colonel Daviess lived 
about thirty-six hours after he was wounded, manifesting 



NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE 385 

his ruling passions in life— ambition, patriotism and an 
ardent love of military glory. During the last hours of 
his life he said to his friends around him that he had 
but one thing to regret — that he had military talents; 
that he was about to be cut down in the meridian of life 
without having an opportunity of displaying them for 
his own honor, and the good of his country. He was 
buried alone with the honors of war near the right flank 
of the army, inside of the lines of the encampment, be- 
tween two trees. On one of these trees the letter *D' is 
now visible. Nothing but the stump of the other remains. 
His grave was made here, to conceal it from the Indians. 
It was filled up to the top with earth, and then covered 
with oak leaves. I presume the Indians never found it. 
This precautionary act was performed as a mark of 
peculiar respect for a distinguished hero and patriot of 
Kentucky. 

"Captain Spencer's company, of mounted riflemen 
composed the right flank of the army. Captain Spencer 
and both his lieutenants were killed. John Tipton was 
elected and commissioned as captain of this company in 
one hour after the battle, as a reward for his cool and 
dehberate heroism displayed during the action. He died 
at Logansport in 1839, having been twice elected Senator 
of the United States from the State of Indiana. 

"The clear, calm voice of General Harrison was heard 
in words of heroism in every part of the encampment 
during the action. Colonel Boyd behaved very bravely 
after repeating these words: "Huzza! My sons of gold, 
a few more fires and victory will be ours !' 



386 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

"Just after daylight the Indians retreated across the 
prairie toward their town, carrying off their wounded. 
This retreat was from the right flank of the encampment, 
commanded by Captains Spencer and Robb, having re- 
treated from the other portions of the encampment a few 
minutes before. As their retreat became visible, an al- 
most deafening and universal shout was raised by our 
men. 'Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!' This shout was almost 
equal to that of the savages at the commencement of the 
battle ; ours was the shout of victory, theirs was the shout 
of ferocious but disappointed hope. 

"The morning light disclosed the fact that the killed 
and wounded of our army, numbering between eight and 
nine hundred men, amounted to one hundred and eighty- 
eight. Thirty-six Indians were found near our lines. 
Many of their dead were carried off during the battle. 
This fact was proved by the discovery of many Indian 
graves recently made near their town. Ours was a bloody 
victory, theirs a bloody defeat. 

"Soon after breakfast an Indian chief was discovered 
on the prairie, about eighty yards from our front line, 
wrapped in a piece of white cloth. He was found by a 
soldier by the name of Miller, a resident of Jeffersonville, 
Indiana. The Indian was wounded in one of his legs, 
the ball having penetrated his knee and passed down his 
leg, breaking the bone as it passed. Miller put his foot 
against him and he raised up his head and said: 'Don't 
kill me, don't kill me.' At the same time five or six 
regular soldiers tried to shoot him, but their muskets 
snapped and missed fire. Major Davis Floyd came riding 




Judge Isaac Naylor. From old portrait in Court Room at Williams- 
port. Indianu. 



NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE 387 

toward him with dragoon sword and pistols and said he 
would show them how to kill Indians, when a messenger 
came from General Harrison commanding that he should 
be taken prisoner. He was taken into camp, where the 
surgeons dressed his wounds. Here he refused to speak a 
word of English or tell a word of truth. Through the 
medium of an interpreter he said that he was a friend 
to the white people and that the Indians shot him while 
he was coming to the camp to tell General Harrison that 
they were about to attack the army. He refused to have 
his leg amputated, though he was told that amputation 
was the only means of saving his life. One dogma of 
Indian superstition is that all good and brave Indians, 
when they die, go to a delightful region, abounding with 
deer and other game, and to be a successful hunter he 
should have all his limbs, his gun and his dog. He there- 
fore preferred death with all his limbs to life without 
them. In accordance with his request he was left to die, 
in company with an old squaw, who was found in the 
Indian town the next day after he was taken prisoner. 
They were left in one of our tents. 

"At the time this Indian was taken prisoner, another 
Indian, who was wounded in the body, rose to his feet 
in the middle of the prairie and began to walk towards 
the woods on the opposite side. A number of regular sol- 
diers shot at him but missed him. A man who was a 
member of the same company with me, Henry Huckle- 
berry, ran a few steps into the prairie and shot an ounce 
ball through his body and he fell dead near the margin 
of the woods. Some Kentucky volunteers went across the 
prairie immediately, and scalped him, dividing his scalp 



388 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

into four pieces, each one cutting a hole in each piece, 
putting the ramrod through the hole, and placing his 
part of the scalp just behind the first thimble of his gun, 
near its muzzle. Such was the fate of nearly all of the 
Indians found on the battle ground, and such was the dis- 
position of their scalps. 

"The death of Owen, and the fact that Daviess was 
mortally wounded, with the remembrance also that a 
large portion of Kentucky's best blood had been shed by 
the Indians, must be their apology for this barbarous 
conduct. Such conduct will be excused by all who wit- 
nessed the treachery of the Indians, and saw the bloody 
scenes of this battle. 

"Tecumseh being absent at the time of the battle, a 
chief called White Loon was the chief commander of the 
Indians. He was seen in the morning after the battle, 
riding a large white horse in the woods across the prairie, 
where he was shot at by a volunteer named Montgomery, 
who is now living in the southwest part of this state. At 
the crack of his rifle the horse jumped as if the ball had 
hit him. The Indian rode off toward the town and we 
saw him no more. During the battle the Prophet was 
safely located on a hill, beyond the reach of our balls, 
praying to the Great Spirit to give victory to the Indians, 
having previously assured them that the Great Spirit 
would change our powder into ashes and sand. 

"We had about forty head of beef cattle when we 
came to the battle. They all ran off the night of the bat- 
tle, or they were driven off by the Indians, so that they 
were all lost. We received rations for two days on the 



NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE 389 

morning after the action. We received no more rations 
until the next Tuesday evening, being six days after- 
wards. The Indians having retreated to their town, we 
performed the solemn duty of consigning to their graves 
our dead soldiers, without shrouds or coffins. They were 
placed in graves about two feet deep, from five to ten in 
each grave. 

"General Harrison having learned that Tecumseh 
was expected to return from the south with a number of 
Indians whom he had enlisted in his cause, called a coun- 
cil of his officers, who advised him to remain on the bat- 
tlefield and fortify his camp by a breastwork of logs, 
about four feet high. This work was completed during 
the day and all the troops were placed immediately be- 
hind each line of the work, when they were ordered to 
pass the watchword from right to left every five minutes, 
so that no man was permitted to sleep during the night. 
The watchword on the night before the battle was 'Wide- 
awake, wide-awake.' To me, it was a long, cold, cheerless 
night. 

"On the next day the dragoons went to Prophet's 
Town, which they found deserted by all the Indians, ex- 
cept an old squaw, whom they brought into the camp and 
left her with the wounded chief before mentioned. The 
dragoons set fire to the town and it was ail consumed, 
casting up a brilliant light amid the darkness of the en- 
suing night. I arrived at the town when it was about 
half on fire. I found large quantities of corn, beans and 
peas, I filled my knapsack with these articles and car 
ried them to the camp and divided them with the mem 



390 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 

bers of our mess, consisting of six men. Having these 
articles of food, we declined eating horse flesh, which was 
eaten by a large portion of our men." 

(The End.) 



i 



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392 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



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28. Fergus Historical Series. Vol. IV. Nos. 26 and 27. 

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29. Fort Wayne Manuscript. Fergus Historical Series, 

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30. Griswold, B. J. History of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

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394 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



38. Hay's Journal. A Narrative of Life on the Old Fron- 

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39. Heckewelder, Rev. John. An Account of the History, 

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44. Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Ohio. 1856. 

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48. Jasper and Newton Counties, Indiana. Edited by 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 395 



49. Journals of Old Continental Congress, 1775 to 1788. 

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55. Marshall, Chief Justice John. Opinion in Johnson 

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396 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



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398 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



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Fort Wayne. 



INDEX 399 



(References are to pages.) 

— A— 

Adams, John 126, 245, 288 

Adams, Lieut 378 

Adair, Major John 213 

Ag-askawak, Ottawa Chief 169 

Albach, James R., Historian 193 

American Fur Company 12 

Arrowheads 33, 154 

"Army Ford Stock Farm" 154 

Armstrong, Capt. John 163, 165, 166 

"Army Ford," Eugene, Indiana 172 

"Aristocrats" 249 

Ash, Abraham, Interpreter 262 

Asheton, Capt. Joseph 167, 169, 187 

Ashcake 38 

Ashley, 111 22 

Astor, John Jacob 12, 13 

Attica, Ind 73 

Atwater, Caleb, Historian 14 

Au Glaize, River of 42, 45, 230, 282 

Au Glaize, Town of 212 

Au-goosh-a-way, Ottawa Chief 241 

Au Sable Grove, 111 23 

— B— 

Babcock's Museum, Goodland, Indiana 367 

Badger • • 13 

Baen, Capt. Wm. C 360, 371, 372, 377, 378 

Bancroft, George, Historian 92 

Barbee, Major, (Ky.) 185, 231, 232 

Barron, Joseph, Interpreter 249, 258, 259, 261, 262, 

267, 276, 306, 312, 313, 314, 318, 320, 321, 322, 324, 325, 326 

Barron's Interview with Tecumseh 313, 314 

Barton, Capt. Robert C 360, 374, 375, 378 

Bartholomew, Col. Joseph 358, 372 

"Bataille des Illinois" 362 

Bateaux 49 

Beans 37, 389 



400 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Bears 12, 13, 16, 27, 51, 114 

Bear Chief (Ottawa) 228 

Beckwith, Hiram, Historian 18, 46, 47, 72, 76, 155 

Belle Riviere, Ohio River 113 

Benton County, Indiana 22, 24, 32, 74, 190, 381 

Berry, Second Lieutenant Thomas 372, 378 

Beaver 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 51 

Beaver City, Indiana 18 

Beaver Creek, Indiana, Illinois 18 

Beaver Lake, Indiana 11, 13, 18 

Beaver Township, Newton County, Indiana 18 

Beaverville, Illinois 18 

Big Bottom, Ohio, Massacre at 173 

Bigger, Captain James 382 

Big Man, (Miami Chief) 357 

Birch, Jesse S 190 

Black, General John C 362 

Blackbird, Potawatomi Chief 203 

Black Hawk War 78 

Black Hoof (Catahecassa), Shawnee Chief 57, 275 

Blood, Hosea, Surgeon 379 

Blue Grass 37, 367 

Blue Jacket, Shawnee Chief 62, 

140, 146, 148, 157, 158, 159, 169, 171, 213, 227, 238, 241, 332 

Blue Stem 22 

"Board of War," (Ky.) 175, 188 

Boone, Daniel 56, 70, 120, 122 

Boonesborough, Kentucky 115, 117 

Boyd, John Parke, Sketch by Lossing 359 

Boyd, John Parke, Colonel U. S. Army 

340, 341, 358, 359, 360, 365, 378, 385 

Boyd's Bravery at Tippecanoe 385 

Braddock's Defeat 14, 60, 63, 67, 204, 241 

Bradford, Thomas G., Maps of 53, 55 

Brant, Game Bird 37 

Brant, Joseph, Mohawk Chief 60, 80, 81, 96, 110, 128, 129, 130 

131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 177, 178, 179, 

180, 181, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 221, 224, 238, 293, 332 

Bridges, Ensign, Killed 170 

Brier's Mills 20, 367 

British Agents 4, 50, 99, 105, 106, 107, 



INDEX 401 



108, 109, 127, 132, 134, 139, 141, 148, 144, 149, 163, 221, 225, 

239, 259, 261, 266, 274, 284, 296, 304, 327, 332, 352, 353, 365 

British Northwest Company 12 

British Posts 6, 84, 87, 90, 

126, 127, 134, 135, 137, 138, 141, 144, 146, 171, 180, 237, 263 

British Traders 16, 50, 147, 157, 158, 160, 163 

Brouillette, Michael, Trader and Scout 

249, 303, 306, 308, 309, 311, 313, 335, 343 

Brown, Captain (Ky.) 186 

Brown, John, (Ky.) 150, 175 

Brown, Captain Return B 360 

Brownstown, Michigan, Council at 333 

Buckongahelas, Delaware Chief 218, 241 

Buffalo 2, 12, 16, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 48, 82, 86, 114, 300 

Buffalo Creek (N. Y 177, 179 

Buffalo Robes, Trade Ceased in 29 

Buffalo Wallows 32 

Bull, Captain, Indian Warrior 186 

Bunkum, Town of, (111.) 13 

Burchstead, Ensign 379 

Burnet, Jacob, Historian 31, 64, 150, 196 

Burnet's Creek, Indiana 368, 371, 374 

Busseron, Indiana 336, 361 

Butler, Col. John, British Indian Agent 177, 178, 215, 224 

Butler, Mann, Historian 27, 65, 70, 115, 122, 124 

Butler, General Richard 96, 97, 99, 142, 174, 197, 199, 200, 202 

— c— 

Cahokia, Illinois 121 

Caldwell, Captain, British Agent 107, 130, 231 

Campbell, Mis, Legionary Cavalry 232 

Campbell, William, British Officer at Fort Miami 233, 234 

Cannehous, Jean, French Trader 11 

Capt. Pike, Delaware Chief 98 

Carleton, Sir Guy (Lord Dorchester) 135, 136, 137, 223 

Carmarthen, Lord, British Secretary of State 126 

Cass, General Lewis '^5 

Catahecassa, Black Hoof, Wyandot Chief 57, 241, 275 

Caton, John D 23 

Caughnawaga Indians 14 

Cayuga, Indiana 154 



402 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Cession, Deed of, by Virginia 84, 86, 92 

Cheeseekau, Brother of Tecumseh 289 

Cherokees, Tribe of 58 65, 114, 132, 153 

Cherokee, River of (Same as Tennessee) 58 

Chesapeake and Leopard 284, 285 

Chickasaws, Tribe of 58, 230 

Chicago Road 24, 25 

Chicago, Post of 9, 13, 46, 72, 78 

Chillicothe, Shawnee Village 167 

Chippewas, Tribe of. .44, 53, 54, 55, 65, 71, 98, 108, 140, 141, 143, 160, 

169, 179, 199, 219, 224, 227, 231, 240, 241, 285, 298, 303, 305, 307 

Choctaws, Tribe of 230, 349 

Cincinnati, Ohio 

31, 109, 153, 161, 177, 188, 195, 209, 222, 246, 303, 340 

Citizen Genet 220 

Clarendon, Lord 81 

Clark, Lieutenant, Killed 170 

Clark, George Rogers. . . .6, 12, 83, 84, 91, 97, 99, 120, 121, 122, 124 

Clark, Major Marston G 370, 382 

Clark, General William 339 

"Clark's Grant 243 

Cole, Captain, Theft of Horses From by Potawatomi . .336, 337, 338 

Confessional, Introduced by Prophet 299 

Connecticut Cession to General Government 84, 85 

Conner, John, Delaware Interpreter 

259, 262, 285, 297, 306, 338, 363, 364 

Connolly, Dr. John, British Agent 139 

Connoys, Tribe of 219 

Cook, Captain Joel 360, 373, 375, 377, 378 

Corn 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 48, 49, 69, 76, 124, 164, 

167, 170, 181, 187, 189, 190, 192, 193, 230, 235, 298, 369, 389 

Cornplanter, Seneca Chief 96, 133, 175, 176, 182, 212, 213 

Cornstalk, Shawnee Chief 241 

Corydon, Indiana 365 

Coshocton, Ohio 107, 127, 129 

Council at St. Joseph River in 1810 306, 307, 308 

Coustan, Jean, French Trader 11 

Crab Orchard, Kentucky 145 

Craik, Doctor, Friend of Washington 85 

Crainte, Sans, Interpreter at Treaty of Greenville 242 

Cranes, Game 12 



INDEX 403 



Crawford, William, Friend of Washington 85 

Creeks, Tribe of 57 

Croghan, George, British Agent 27, 31, 37, 38, 42, 49, 53 

Cucumbers 37 

Cuyahoga, River of 8, 10, 45, 87, 98, 242 

— D— 

Danville, Illinois 21 

Darke, Colonel William 199, 202 

Darke County, Ohio 197 

"Dark and Bloody Ground" 113, 114 

Daviess, Joseph Hamilton 

248, 358, 363, 368, 372, 376, 378, 379, 381, 384, 385, 388 

Daviess, Major Joseph Hamilton, Death of 376, 384, 385 

Daviess, Charge With Dragoons 384, 385 

"Dawson's Harrison," 277 

Dearborn, Henry, Secretary of War 251, 302 

De Bois Blanc, Island of 53 

Decatur, Illinois 21 

Decker, Colonel Luke 351, 372 

Deer 2, 12, 13, 27, 30, 37, 41, 48, 51, 86, 114, 300 

Deer Hoofs, Dried, at Tippecanoe 62, 375 

De Hart, General Richard P 295 

Delawares, Tribe of 29, 32, 44, 45, 55, 57, 65, 95, 97, 98, 100, 107, 
108, 110, 128, 132, 139, 141, 143, 147, 153, 156, 157, 158, 164, 
169, 177, 179, 180, 181, 189, 199, 213, 219, 227, 231, 240, 241, 
250, 258, 259, 260, 261, 265, 269, 286, 297, 307, 319, 363, 369 

Denny, Major Ebenezer 196, 197, 198, 200, 202 

Detroit, Town of 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 16, 34, 41, 42, 

46, 49, 50, 51, 55, 87, 90, 98, 99, 106, 120, 121, 122, 126, 127, 
128, 137, 140, 141, 142, 144, 146, 149, 157, 158, 159, 171, 179, 
187, 199, 211, 237, 243, 261, 263, 283, 284, 285, 292, 306, 307 

Detroit, River of 4, 218, 221 

Devin, Rev. Alexander 351 

Dillon, John B., Historian 254 

Dorchester, Lord, (Sir Guy Carleton) 

135, 136, 137, 139, 141, 179, 223, 226 

Doughty, Captain John 106, 107, 129, 163 

Dowell, William W. (Ky.) 150 

Dragoons, Light, of Vincennes 38, 336, 344, 352, 372 

Dramatic Effect, Indian Speeches 317 



404 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



"Dried Heart of Captive at Kekionga" 149 

Drinking Club, of Indians 17, 18 

Dubois, Captain Touissant, Interpreter and Scout for Harrison 

303, 306, 311, 353, 355, 356, 357, 367, 368 

Ducks, Game 12, 15, 37 

Duke of York 81 

Dumay, Jacques, French Trader 11 

Dunmore, Governor of Province of Virginia 57 

Du Tiel Tavern, Tippecanoe 383 

— E— 

Earl Park, Benton County, Indiana 25, 337 

Eclipse of Sun in 1806 and the Prophet 287, 288 

Edgewater, Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana 48 

Edwards, Colonel (Ky.) 150, 151 

Edwards, Governor Ninian of Illinois 337, 340 

Eel River, Indiana 38, 140, 145, 166, 188, 190, 273 

Eel River Indians 44, 140, 160, 175, 188, 189 

Elk, Game 12, 82, 114 

EUiott, Matthew, British Agent 107, 127, 128, 

130, 211, 212, 218, 231, 284, 285, 306, 312, 332, 333, 334, 352 

English Treaty of Fort Stanwix (N. Y.) 134, 218 

English Traders 2, 3, 10, 113 

Estel's Station (Ky.) 70 

Eugene, Vermilion County, Indiana 172 

— F— 

Fallen Timbers, Description of Battle 231, 232, 233 

Fallen Timbers, Battle of References to 

3, 42, 54, 62, 63, 208, 231, 232, 233, 241, 245 

Farmer's Brother, Iroquois Chief, in British Uniform 177, 178 

Father Hennepin 26 

Father Marquette 26 

Faulkner, Captain (Ky.) 165, 166 

Ferguson, Captain William 163 

"Fire-water" 282 

Five Medals, Potawatomi Chief 260 

Floyd, Major George Rogers Clark 315, 317, 322, 371 

Floyd, Major Davis 386, 387 

Floyd's Fork (Ky.) 145 



INDEX 405 



Fontaine, Major James (Ky.) 165, 168, 169, 170 

Ford, Harmar's, at Fort Wayne, Indiana 48 

Fort Dearborn, Illinois 203, 260 

Fort Defiance, Ohio 43, 230, 235, 243 

Fort Erie 177, 182 

Fort Greenville, Ohio 223, 228, 235, 240 

Fort Hamilton, Ohio 197, 213, 243, 246 

Fort Harmar, Treaty of 55, 58, 104, 108, 109, 110, 

133, 134, 138, 139, 140, 141, 144, 145, 157, 214, 219, 239, 242 

Fort Harrison, Vigo County, Indiana 76, 363, 364, 381 

Fort Jefferson, Ohio 197, 204, 213, 222, 223 

Fort Knox (at Vincennes) 160, 304, 315 

Fort Laurens, Ohio 98, 242 

Fort Mcintosh, Treaty of 97, 98, 99, 103, 105, 107, 110, 132 

Fort Miami, Ohio (British Fort) 231, 233 

Fort Niagara (N. Y.) 177, 178, 179, 214, 215 

Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) 39, 60, 121, 140 

Fort Recovery, Ohio 223, 228, 242, 243 

Fort Recovery, Battle of, Description 228, 229 

Fort Stanwix, Treaty of 96, 97, 103, 104, 105, 107, 132 

Fort Steuben (Clarksville) Indiana 1"3 IGi, 187 

Fort ?t. Clair, Ohio 197, 213, 222 

Fort St. Clair, Battle of, Description 213, 214 

Fort Washington (Cincinnati) 153, 161, 162, 

163, 167, 176 177, 188, 195, 196, 197, 209, 210, 213, 242, 246 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, Town of ... .3, 10, 32, 37, 40, 43, 47, 48, 52, 

163, 166, 167, 235, 236, 242, 243, 257, 258, 283, 296, 307, 308 

"Fort Wayne Manuscript" 169 

Fort Wayne, Treaty of . . . .45, 134, 251, 252, 254, 255, 256, 257, 260, 

261, 262, 263, 267, 269, 271, 273, 277, 278, 279, 305, 319, 346, 357 

Foster, Josiah D., Surgeon 379 

Fourth United States Regiment (of Tippecanoe Fame) 

340, 341, 358, 359, 363, 378, 379 

Fourth United States Regiment, Uniform of 360 

Fowler, Indiana, Town of 25 

Fox, Game 13, 114 

Fox, Silver Gray 13 

Freeman, Death of 210 

French Brandy 1*^ 

French Revolution, Opening of. Effect on Indian Affairs 

219, 220, 221 



406 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



French Traders, Indian Country 8, 10, 11, 16, 17, 

37, 49, 50, 51, 69, 75, 146, 147, 157, 158, 163, 177, 187, 249, 305 

Frothingham, Lieutenant Ebenezer, Death of 170 

Fuller, Lieutenant 378 

Funk, Captain Peter (Ky.) 248, 358 

Fur Trade With Indians 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 34, 37, 39, 

41, 50, 51, 52, 87, 101, 106, 116, 127, 135, 149, 190, 249, 256, 263 

Game, Scarcity of in Harrison's Time 300, 301 

Gamelin, Antoine, French Agent of U. S 

58, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 162 

Gamelin, Fred 153 

Gardens of Indians at Kekionga 48 

Geese, Game 12, 14, 15, 37 

Geiger, Captain Frederick (Ky.) 248, 358, 366, 374, 375, 383 

Georgian Bay 55 

Garrard, U. S. Agent to Indians, Death of 210 

Gibson, Captain Alexander 228 

Gibson, John, Secretary of Territory 317, 322 

Girty, George 140, 146, 147, 212 

Girty, Simon, British Agent 

107, 127, 128, 130, 140, 171, 182, 211, 212, 231 

Gooding, Lieutenant 378 

Gordon, Colonel (British Oificer) 179 

"Grandfathers," Term Applied to Delawares 45, 307 

Grand Glaize, Ohio 42 

Granville, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 186 

Grand Prairie, Indiana, Illinois 20, 21, 22, 26, 28 

Grand, River of 13, 52, 55 

Grapes at Vincennes 41 

Grayson, Wm., Virginia Statesman 85 

"Great Plum Patch," Vermilion County, Indiana 172 

Great Miami, River of 8 

Green Bay, Wisconsin 52, 71 

Greenville, Ohio. .197, 205, 223, 228, 240, 267, 282, 283, 285, 295, 299 

Greenville, Treaty of, account 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244 

Greenville, Treaty of, Other References to 

3, 44, 46, 49, 52, 53, 57, 60, 71, 72, 110, 255, 267, 309, 354 

Grenville, Lord 236 

Grisvi^old, B. J., Historian 170 



INDEX 40- 



— H— 

Haldimand, Gen. Frederick, British Governor 126 

Hale, Lieut. Job, Death of 213 

Half-King of the Wyandots 98 

Hall, Major (Ky.) 162, 168, 169 

Hall, James, Historian 23, 79 

Hamilton, Henry, British Lieutenant Governor 121, 122 

Hammond, British Minister 226 

Hamtramck, John F., U. S. Army 153, 161, 171, 172, 198, 235 

Hardin, Colonel John (Ky.) 

48, 70, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 184, 185, 186, 210, 211 

Hardj^ Samuel 84 

Harmar, General Josiah 3, 26, 30, 

38, 48, 54, 65, 124, 141, 151, 161, 162, 163, 164, 167, 193, 197 

Harmar's Ford, Fort Wayne, Indiana 48 

"Harmar's Trace," 163 

Harrison County, Indiana 372, 376 

Harrison, Gen. Wm. Henry, References to. .2, 4, 9, 20, 32, 37, 38„ 45, 
46, 47, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 75, 76, 77, 79, 113, 124, 134, 138, 172, 
203, 208, 245, 246, 247, 249, 250, 253, 254, 257, 258, 259, 261, 
262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 
278, 279, 280, 283, 285, 295, 296, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 
309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 316, 317, 320, 322, 323, 324, 325, 
326, 329, 330, 334, 337, 338, 341, 342, 344, 345, 346, 348, 349, 
350, 352, 355, 357, 358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 366, 367, 368, 
369, 370, 373, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 382, 385, 387, 389 

Harrison's Answer to Tecumseh 320, 321 

Harrison's Courage 320, 323, 324, 379, 385 

Harrison Deceived by Prophet 302, 303 

Harrison's General Policies Toward Indian Tribes 257, 258, 279 

Harrison's House at Vincennes 316 

Harrison Inveighs Against Liquor Traffic 252, 258 

Harrison's Private Interview With Tecumseh 326, 327, 328 

Harrison's Speech to Wabash and Fort Wayne Miamis 355, 356 

Harrison's Tribute to Tecumseh 350 

Harrison vs. Mcintosh, Suit for Slander 276, 277, 278 

Harrod, James (Ky.) 115, 120, 122 

Harrodsburgh, Kentucky 117, 120 

Harvey, Henry (Quaker) 59 

Hatch, Wm. Stanley, Historian 56, 291 

Hawkins, Lieutenant 378 



408 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Hay, Henry, English Trader and Agent 49, 50, 51, 146, 147, 149 

"Hay's Journal" 49, 50 

Heckewelder, John 18, 29, 38, 127, 211, 214 

Heller's Corners, Near Fort Wayne, Indiana 166 

Hemp at Vincennes 41 

Henry, Patrick, Governor of Virginia 6, 85 

Hickory Grove, Near Fowler, Indiana 25 

Higgins, Ensign, Killed 170 

High Gap, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 183, 184, 185 

'Hobson's Choice" 209, 222 

Hoe-cake 38 

Holderman's Grove, Illinois 23 

Honey-bee 35, 36 

Hops at Vincennes 41 

Hornaday, William T 31 

Horses at Vincennes, Breed of 41 

Horse Flesh, eating at Tippecanoe 390 

Horse Thieves, References to 

73, 74, 99, 122, 123, 143, 146, 256, 312, 335, 337 

Huckleberry, Henry (Tippecanop) 387 

Hubbard, Gurdon S 13, 190 

Hunting Shirt Men 6, 60, 115, 341 

Hutchins, Thomas, Geographer 39 

Hutchins' Description of Wabash Valley 39, 40, 41, 42 

—I— 

Illinois Central Railviray 22 

"Illinois Grant" 84 

Illinois, Tribe of 26, 45, 46, 72, 211, 362 

Illinois Tribes, Conquest of 46 

Impressment of American Seamen 284 

Indiana Becomes State 380 

Indian Creek (Reviere de Bois Rouge) 186 

"Indian Hills," on Wabash 183 

Innes, Harry, (Ky.) 123, 175 

Iroquois, Illinois 13 

Iroquois, County of, Illinois 13 

Iroquois, Tribe of 8, 55, 57, 59, 71, 

80, 82, 96, 97, 100, 108, 110, 130, 134, 159, 175, 178, 212, 213 



INDEX 409 



—J— 

Jasper County, Indiana 22 

Jay, John 122, 225, 236 

Jay's Treaty 236, 237 

Jefferson, Thomas, References to 

6, 7, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 250, 253, 280, 288 

Jefferson's Policy as to Payment of Annuities to Indians 253 

Jennings, Lieutenant 317, 322 

Jesuit Fathers 53, 71, 133 

Jesuit Relation 71 

Johnson, Sir John, British Agent 136, 137, 239 

Johnson, Wm 27, 129 

Johnston, John, U. S. Indian Agent 257, 280, 291, 308 

Jones, Peter, Secretary to Governor Harrison 258, 261, 276 

— K— 

Xankakee, River of 9, 76, 78 

Kaskaskia, Illinois 7, 22, 26, 30, 48, 69, 84, 120, 121 

Kaskaskias, Tribe of 241 

Keel Boats 3, 56, 73, 143, 145, 146, 149, 150 

Keesass, the Sun, Potawatomi Chief 53, 241 

Kekionga (at Fort Wayne) 47, 

52, 58, 146, 154, 156, 160, 181, 167, 175, 177, 188, 189, 195, 212 

Kenapacomaqua, Eel River Town, L'Anguille 

38, 145, 146, 156, 188, 190, 191 

Kendall County, Illinois 23 

Kenton, Simon 56, 70, 122, 280, 289 

Kentucky, References to 

3, 4, 7, 11, 27, 51, 56, 57, 60, 70, 73, 76, 93, 99, 109, 112, 
113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 
127, 135, 148, 161, 162, 174, 175, 193, 194, 205, 210, 358, 388 

Kentucky, River of 146, 148, 183, 242 

Kentuckians, References to. .69, 71, 76, 88, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 
117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 135, 139, 149, 151, 162, 
164, 167, 168, 170, 185, 187, 188, 192, 193, 194, 195, 205, 210, 213, 
222, 223, 229, 231, 330, 358, 361, 362, 365, 368, 375, 387, 388 

Keth-tip-e-ca-nunk, (Tippecanoe) 11, 145, 186, 187, 190, 192 

Kibby, Ephriam, Wayne Scout 230 

Kikapouguoi, Indian Village 1^4 

Kickapoos, Tribe of, References to. . .28, 41, 46, 47, 53, 72, 74, 140, 



410 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



143, 145, 154, 155, 156, 172, 175, 184, 185, 188, 190, 211, 241, 250, 
272, 273, 279, 297, 298, 305, 308, 311, 325, 361 365, 367, 371 

"Kickapoo Town in Prairie", near Oxford, Ind., 

188, 189, 190, 191, 192 

Kinzie, John, trader among Indians 164 

Knox Co., Ind 249, 276 

Kosciusko, Baron and Little Turtle 260 

Kumskaukau, Brother of Prophet 280 



Lafayette, city of 5, 73, 190, 296 

LaFountaine, fur trader at Kekionga 37, 51 

Lakeside, Avenue at Ft. Wayne, Ind., 48, 164 

L'Anguille, (Kenapacomaqua) 146, 156, 160,188 

La Plante, Pierre, Harrison agent 249, 340 

La Poussier, Wea chief 278, 279, 343, 346, 357 

L'Arbe Croche 55 

La Salle Comes UP St. Joseph of Lake Michigan 9 

Laselle, Antoine, French fur trader and British loyalist 

51, 147, 148, 164 

Laselle, Hyacinthe, 279 

Laselle, Jacques, interpreter 242 

Laulewasikaw, (The Prophet) 280, 282 

Law, John, of Vincennes, 247, 259, 289, 293, 320 

Lee, Arthur, of Virginia 84, 96, 97, 100 

Lee, Richard Henry, 85 

Legion, The (of Wayne) 209, 222, 223, 231, 232 

Legionville 208 

Le Gris, Miami chief 

49, 50, 51, 140, 146, 147, 148, 157, 158, 171, 241 

Le Gris, town of 49 

"Les Poux," (Potawatomi) 74 

Lewis, General Andrew 241 

Lewis, Isaac W., of Oxford, Ind 191 

Licks, buffalo, etc 27 

Limestone, (Maysville, Ky.) 149, 150, 151 

Lincoln, Benjamin, U. S .Commissioner 104, 214 

Little Beaver, Wea chief 241 

Little Eyes, Wea chief 278 

Little Face, chief at Petit Piconne 145 

Little Miami, river of 84, 109 



INDEX 411 



Little Turtle, reference to 32, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 59, 62, 64, 

65, 78, 133, 140, 146, 157, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 198, 
203, 213, 228, 230, 239, 241, 242, 243, 260, 264, 271, 274, 332, 357 

Little Turtle's Views on Treaty of Fort Wayne 357 

Little Wabash 22 

Logan, Benjamin 118, 119, 120, 122, 175 

Logansport, Indiana 73, 145, 188, 191, 385 

Logan's Station (St. Asaphs) (Ky.) 117, 118, 119, 120, 123 

'Looking Glass," the (Wabunsee), Potawatomi Chief .. 76, 77, 78 

Lord Sidney 80 

Lord Clarendon 81 

Losantiville (Cincinnati) 153 

Lossing, Benson J., Historian 208, 359 

Louisville, Ky 172 

Loutre Island, (Missouri River) 337 

Ludlow's Station 196 

Lynx 13 

— M— 

Mackinaw 12, 53 

Madison, James 85, 250 

'•Magic Bowl," of the Prophet 374 

Maize, or Indian Corn, References to 37, 38, 41, 42, 43 

48, 49, 69, 164, 167, 170, 189, 190, 192, 193, 230, 235, 369, 389 
Maiden, Canada 

4, 259, 284, 292, 298, 306, 312, 332, 333, 352, 353, 356 

Mantoulin, Island of 54 

Maple Sugar '....'....' 39 

Marietta, Ohio 108, 109, 153, 172, 173 

Mars, Corjwral Stephen, (Ky) 378 

Marshal, Humphrey, Historian of Kentucky 27, 114, 117 

Marshall, John, Chief Justice 82, 83, 85 

Marshal, Thomas, (Ky.) 150 

Marshfield, Warren Co., Ind 21 

Marten (Sable) 13 

Mash-i-pinash-i-wish, Chippewa Chief 53, 241 

Mason, George, of Virginia 6, 85 

Massachusetts Cession to General (Jovemment 84 

Massas, Chippewa Chief 44, 239, 309 

Matthews, Major, British Army 137 

Maumee Bay 45 



412 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Maumee City, Ohio 231, 233 

Maumee, River of, References to 

8, 10, 34, 40, 42, 43, 48, 50, 52, 59, 87, 91, 98, 115, 142, 143, 
144, 146, 156, 161, 164, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 175, 181, 182, 
211, 212, 215, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231, 233, 234, 235, 236, 242 

May, William 211 

Maysville (Limestone) (Ky.) 149, 150, 151 

McClellan, Robert, Wayne Scout, 230 

McCormick, Alexander 107, 129 

McCoy, Capt. (Ky.) 184 

Mcintosh, William, Tory at Vincennes 276, 277, 278 

McKee, Alexander, British agent, 

127, 128 130, 142, 147, 163, 178, 179, 180 

181, 182, 211, 212, 218, 224, 226, 231, 235, 238, 239, 284, 285 

McMahan, Lieut. Richard 372, 378 

McMahon, Major 228, 229 

McMullen, Captive of Indians 148 

McMullen, Major (Ky.) 162, 164, 168, 169 

McMurtrey, Capt 170 

McNeniar, Richard (Shaker) 299 

"Medean Fire" 374 

Melons, 37, 41 

Meredosia, 111 21 

Miami Carrying Place or Portage 39, 40, 42, 43, 49, 51, 52, 243 

Miami, Fort (British) 231, 233 

Miami of the Lake (Maumee) 40, 42, 52, 142, 158, 243, 285, 342 

Miami Rapids, Battle of (Fallen Timbers), 209 

Miami Rapids, Ohio, 224 

Miami, River of 

10, 58, 87, 91, 98, 99, 109, 115, 197, 223, 242, 243, 281 

Miamitown, 3, 10, 11, 30 

37, 38, 40, 43, 49, 54, 64, 99, 106, 140, 146, 147, 149, 154, 163 

Miami, Treaty of 99, 103 

"Miami Village" 47, 91, 98, 161, 175, 176, 177, 181, 182 

Miamis, Tribe of, References to 1, 3, 11, 17, 32, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, 

47, 48, 49, 51, 54, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 72, 73, 95, 97, 107, 
132, 134, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 147, 148, 153, 154, 156, 157, 
158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 164, 166, 169, 171, 175, 177, 178, 179, 
181, 193, 198, 199, 203, 212, 213, 219, 227, 231, 240, 241, 242, 
243, 250, 260, 261, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 271, 274, 
279, 297, 310, 319, 321, 329, 334, 346, 349, 354, 357, 364, 369 



INDEX 413 



Michillimacinac 7, 10, 53, 98, 126, 160, 243 

Miller, Christopher, Wayne Scout 230, 231, 242 

Miller, Henry, Wajnie Scout 230 

Miller, Col. James 360 

Mingoes, Tribe of 65, 219 

Mink 13 

Mississinewa, Indians 260, 261, 264, 267, 310, 311 

Mississinewa, River of 37, 260 

Mitchell, Corporal James (Tippecanoe) 378 

Mohawks, Tribe of 80, 96, 97, 128, 129, 130, 144, 179, 182, 231 

Monongahela, River of 63, 112 

Monroe, James 84, 85 

Montezuma, Ind 76, 79, 366 

Montgomery Co., Ind 381 

Morins, M. Interpreter at Treaty of Greenville, 242 

Morocco, Ind 337 

Mud Creek, Benton Co., Ind 25 

Mulberry Trees( white and Black 40 

"Munsees", Tribe of 219 

Muskegon, River of 13 

Muskingum, River of 

8, 27, 45, 55, 87, 98, 107, 108, 125, 127, 141, 173, 242 

Musquitons 41 

Musk-rat 13 

— N— 

Na-go-quan-gogh, or Le Oris, Miami Chief 49 

Naylor, Judge Isaac 38, 381 

Naylor's Narrative! of Battle of Tippecanoe 

381, 382, 383, 384, 385 386, 387, 388, 389, 390 

Naylor's Portrait at Williamsport, Ind 381 

Naylor, William, Brother of Isaac Naylor 384 

Negro-Legs, Wea Chief, 278, 357 

New Orleans, Market of 88 

New Purchase, The . . . .255, 305, 325, 329, 335, 340, 347, 354 361, 366 

Newton Co., Ind 22, 74, 337 

New York Cession to General Government 84 

Niagara, Post of 87, 90, 126, 137, 177, 178, 179 

— 0— 

Ohio Company, The ^08 



414 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Ojibways, (Chippewas) 53 

Old Congress, Records of 100, 101, 102 

Oldham, Col. (Ky.) 195, 200 

Onondagas, Iroquois Tribe 97 

Onoragas, Iroquois Tribe 97 

"Open Door," The, (The Prophet) 282 

Ordinance of 1787 92, 96, 107, 108, 249 

Osage, Miami Chief 357 

Osages, Tribe of 347, 349 

Oswego, Post of 87, 90, 126 

Ottawa County, Mich 55 

Ottawas, Tribe of 17, 18, 42, 44, 45, 54, 55, 56, 

65, 71, 98, 108, 132, 140, 141, 143, 160, 169, 179, 180, 199, 219, 

224, 231, 240, 241, 282, 285, 291, 298, 303, 305, 307, 325, 347 

Otter 11, 51 

Otterbein, Ind 5 

Ouiatenon 10, H, 39, 40, 41, 49 

51, 53, 140, 145, 147, 148, 156, 160, 182, 184, 187, 190, 192, 243 

Ouiatenons, Indian Tribe (Weas) 41, 183 

Owen, Col. Abraham, (Ky.) 

247, 248, 358, 366, 375, 378, 379, 384, 388 

Owl, The, Miami Chief, 260, 266 

Oxford, Ind 190 

— P— 

Parish Grove, Benton Co., Ind 24, 25 

Parke, Judge Benjamin 249, 276, 277, 336, 344, 353, 360, 372 

Parke Co., Ind 18, 254 ,279 

Parsons, Samuel H 99 

Peas 389 

Pecan, Miami Chief at Kekionga 26, 30, 48, 146, 260, 269, 271, 357 

Pecan, Nuts 38 

Peltries, 2, 8, H, 19, 37, 75, 116, 127, 135, 187, 262, 301, 353 

Pemmican 28 

Penn, Wm 272 

Peoria, 111 47, 72 

Pepper, Abel C 5 

Peshewah (Jean Baptiste Richardville) 48, 50, 146, 261, 271 

Peters, Lieut. George P., Officer at Tippecanoe 375 

Petit Piconne, (Tippecanoe) 10, 11, 51, 140, 145, 296 

Pettit, Daniel, Soldier at Tippecanoe 384 



INDEX 415 



Pheasant 37 

Piankeshaws' Hunting Ground 27 

Piankeshaws, Tribe of 32, 41, 44, 154, 160, 241 

Piatt, Capt. William, Quartermaster 361 

Pickering, Timothy, United States Commissioner 104, 214 

Pigeons, Wild 37 

Pine Creek, Benton and Warren Counties, Ind 

20, 25, 37, 47, 73, 190, 367 

Pirogues 76, 150, 182 

Pirtle, Capt. Alfred, Historian 358 

Plum Patch, The Great, Vermillion Co. Ind 172 

Point Pleasant, Battle of 241 

Pontiac, Ottawa Chief 56, 342, 349 

Portages 8, 9, 42, 52, 87, 98 

Posey, Capt. John, Officer at Tippecanoe 372, 377 

Potatoes 37, 43 

Potawatomi, Tribe of. References to 1,2, 3, 5, 

11, 17, 26, 32, 35, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 53, 65, 71, 72, 73, 
74, 75, 76, 78, 95, 108, 132, 140, 143, 157, 160, 169, 179, 180, 181, 
189, 190, 191, 199, 203, 212, 213, 219, 226, 231, 240, 241, 250, 
255, 260, 261, 264, 265, 266, 267, 269, 272, 273, 274, 285, 297, 
298, 301, 303, 305, 307, 319, 321, 325, 336, 338, 339, 346, 361, 365 
Potowatomi Murders on Missouri . . .336, 337, 338, 346, 347, 361, 374 

Prairies, References to 

1, 7, 10, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 35, 37, 73, 337, 367 

Prairie Chicken 37 

Prairie Fires 23, 24, 25 

Prescott, Capt. George W., Officer at Tippecanoe 360, 371 

"Presque Isle," Ohio 231 

Price, Captain (Ky.) 185, 232 

Proctor, Col. Thomas, U. S. Agent and Commissioner 

176, 177, 178, 179, 182, 183 

Prophet, The, References to 

4, 72, 74, 75, 259, 274, 280, 281, 282, 283, 285, 286, 287, 288, 
290, 292, 294, 295, 297, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 308, 
309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 329, 332, 334, 335, 338, 339, 340, 341, 
350, 352, 354, 356, 357, 360, 363, 364, 365, 369, 373, 374, 388 

Prophet's Incantations During Battle of Tippecanoe 388 

Prophet's Town. .38, 295, 296, 297, 298, 301, 305, 308, 310, 311, 312, 

324, 333, 340, 341, 361, 363, 365, 368, 371, 373, 379, 382, 389 

Prophet's Town, Burning of ^^^ 



416 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Prophet's Town, Favotable Position of 342, 343 

Pumpkins 37 

Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana 35 

Putnam, General Rufus HO, 173, 211 

-Q- 

Quail 37 

Queen, The, (Prophet's Wife) 290 

Qviincy, Illinois 21 

—It- 
Raccoon 2, 12, 13, 16, 37, 51 

Raccoon Creek, Indiana 254, 279, 366 

Randolph, Beverly, of Virginia 104, 214 

Randolph, Thomas, of Vincennes 247, 249, 276 

Rapids of the Miami (Maumee) 180 

Ray, Major, (Ky.) 162 

Recovery, Fort, Ohio 223, 228, 242, 243 

Red Jacket, Iroquois Chief 177, 178, 179 

Reynolds, John 23 

Rhea, Thomas, Prisoner 181, 182 

Richardville, Jean Baptiste (Peshewah), Miami Chief 

48, 50, 146, 261, 271, 274 

Richest Indian 48 

Riviere de Bois Rouge (Indian Creek), Tippecanoe County, 

Indiana 186 

Roche de Bout 181, 226, 227 

Robb, Captain David (Tippecanoe) 376, 377, 386 

Rogers, Lieutenant, Killed 170 

Roosevelt, Theodore, References to 

61, 71, 115, 116, 121, 162, 171, 180, 210, 218 

Round Grove, Warren County, Indiana 20, 367 

— S- 

"Sacred Torch" 374 

Sacs and Foxes, Tribe of. .26, 46, 54, 72, 108, 240, 298, 304, 312, 339 

Saline 40 

Salt, Refusal of, by Prophet 308, 309 

Salt, Seizure of, by Prophet 340, 341, 345 

Sand Prairie, Vermilion County, Indiana 20, 367 



INDEX 417 



Sandusky, River of 8, 10, 45, 98, 177, 179, 181, 182, 211 

Sangamon, River of 21, 22, 44 

Sault St. Marie 53 

Sa-wagh-da-wunk, Wyandot Chief 218 

Schoolcraft, H. R., Historian 77 

Schuyler, General Philip 94 

Scioto, River of 8, 10, 27, 45, 46, 57, 69, 84, 87, 115, 150, 151 

Scott, Captain, Killed 170 

Scott, Charles, Governor of Kentucky 11, 70, 151, 175, 

182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 193, 211, 222, 229, 232, 248, 358, 366 

Scott, Rev. Samuel T 351 

Scott, Captain Thomas 372, 377 

"Scott's Trace" 193 

Seminoles, Tribe of 57 

Senecas, Iroquois Tribe 97, 176, 177, 182, 282 

Shadeland Farm, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 181 

Shane, Anthony 280 

Shaubena, Potawatomi Chief 29, 30, 78, 349 

Shawanoe, Wea Chief 278 

Shawnees, Came From Florida and Georgia 56, 57 

Shawnees, Tribe of. References to 3, 11, 44, 

56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 65, 73, 78, 99, 107, 114, 117, 132, 140, 143, 
144, 145, 148, 149, 151, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159, 164, 169, 
175, 179, 180, 189, 193, 199, 213, 219, 227, 231, 238, 240, 241, 
250, 275, 282, 285, 289, 291, 298, 305, 308, 310, 321, 340, 364 

Shawnee River, (Same as Cumberland) 58 

Shawneetown, Illinois 57 

Shay's Rebellion, Massachusetts 135 

"Shishequia" 148 

Shelby House, Near Cayuga, Indiana 154, 172 

Shelby, Isaac 175 

Sidney, Lord 80, 130, 131, 136 

Silver Heels, Miami Chief at Ft. Wayne Treaty 260, 266 

Simcoe, Lieut.-Govemor, British Officer 214, 215, 224, 225, 226, 238 

Sioux Indians 44, 54, 71 

Six Nations (Iroquois) , Confederacy of 

96, 108, 110, 128, 143, 180, 212, 333 

Sloan, Warren County, Indiana 20, 367 

Slough, Captain 200 

Small, John, Affidavit of 276 

Smallpox, Among Indians 60, 144 



418 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Smith, Col. James, Indian Captive and Historian. .14, 15, 17, 27, 60 

Snelling, Capt. Josiah (Tippecanoe) 360, 371, 376, 378 

Snelling, Capt. Josiah, Jr., (Tippecanoe) 372 

"Soldier, The," Miami Chief 146 

Spencer, Capt. Spier, Leader of Yellow Jackets 

36, 372, 376, 377, 378, 379, 385, 386 

Springfield, Illinois 21 

Spy Run, at Fort Wayne, Indiana 49 

Squashes 37 

St. Asaphs (Logan's Station, Ky.) 117, 118, 119, 120 

St. Clair, General Arthur, References to 

3, 54, 63, 64, 65, 67, 109, HO, 129, 133, 134, 

138, 140, 141, 142, 144, 149, 153, 158, 160, 161, 170, 171, 174, 

175, 177, 188, 195, 196, 197, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 246 
St. Clair's Defeat, Description of 

198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206 

Still Hunters, of Buffalo 30 

St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, River of 

8, 9, 53, 72, 75, 78, 306, 308 

St. Joseph of Maumee, River of 

47, 48, 49, 78, 146, 163, 164, 168, 169, 235 

St. Marys, River of, Ohio, Indiana 

8, 47, 48, 49, 98, 146, 163, 168, 235, 242 

Stone Eater, Sa-na-mah-hon-ga, Miami Chief 357, 364, 378 

Sugar Creek, Benton County, Indiana 25 

Sugar Grove, Benton County, Indiana 25 

"Sun, My Father; Earth, My Mother" 318 

Sun, The, Potawatomi Chief 53 

Sun-worship, by Prophet 299, 300 

Surveyors Driven Out of New Purchase 340 

Swan, Game 12 

Sweet, Ensign, Killed 170 

Symmes, John Cleves 108, 109 

— T— 

Tarhe, The Crane, Wyandot Chief 110, 239, 241, 244 

Tawas (Ottawas) 140 

Taylor, Judge Waller, of Vincennes 249, 277, 352, 360, 370, 382 

Taylor, Captain Zachary 381 

Tecaughretanego, Friend of Col. James Smith 14, 15 

Tecumseh, References to 4, 5, 59, 72, 73, 133, 138, 



INDEX 419 



254, 259, 265, 266, 267, 275, 280, 281, 282, 288, 289, 290, 291, 
292, 293, 294, 297, 305, 306, 308, 310, 311, 313, 314, 316, 317, 
318, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 329, 330, 332, 333, 334, 338, 339, 
340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 348, 349, 355, 379, 388, 389 

Tecumseh's Chivalry 289, 290, 291 

Tecumseh, Description of Person, Appearance 291, 292, 315 

Tecumseh's Land Doctrine 292, 293, 305, 319, 333 

Tecumseh's Last Speech to Harrison 346, 347, 348 

Tecumseh's Speech at Vincennes in 1810 318, 319 

"Ten O'clock Line" 254, 255 

Tenskwatawa (The Prophet) 282 

Terre Haute, (High Land), Indiana 76, 77, 362, 363, 364, 381 

Thames, Battle of 5, 379 

Thielkeld, Ensign, Killed 170 

Thompson, George, Bravery of 151 

Thorp, Captain 170 

"Three Fires," Confederacy of 44, 140 

Tippecanoe Battle Ground, Description of 370, 371 

Tippecanoe, Battle of. Description 

371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380 

Tippecanoe, Battle of. References to. .38, 45, 62, 76, 155, 172, 247, 276 

Tippecanoe County, Indiana 22 

Tippecanoe, Town of 

10, 11, 145, 148, 160, 186, 190, 192, 259, 305, 310, 354, 364, 365 

Tipton, John 5, 38, 76, 77, 79, 361, 372, 376, 377, 385 

Tobacco at Vincennes 38, 41 

Todd, Brigadier-General, (Ky.) 231, 232 

Topenebee, Potawatomi Chief 75, 241, 340 

Tramblai, French Trader 148 

Treaties, Harrison's Method of Holding With Indians 251 

Treaty of 1763 10, 81, 113 

Treaty of 1783 10, 80, 91, 92, 93, 99, 104, 126 

Treaty at Mouth of Big Miami in 1786 99, 103 

Treaty of Fort Harmar, Ohio 55, 58, 104, 108, 109, HO, 

133, 134, 138, 139, 140, 141, 144, 145, 157, 214, 219, 239, 242 
Treaty of Fort Mcintosh (Penn.) . .97, 98, 99, 103, 105, 107, HO, 132 

Treaty of Fort Stanwix (N. Y.) 96, 97, 103, 104, 105, 107, 132 

Treaty of Fort Wayne by Harrison 

45, 134, 251, 252, 254, 255, 256, 257, 260, 261, 

262, 263, 267, 269, 271, 273, 277, 278, 279, 305, 319, 346, 357 



420 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



Treaty of Greenville, Ohio 3, 44, 46, 49, 52, 53, 57, 60, 71, 

72, 110, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 255, 267, 309, 354 

Treaty of Grouseland 254, 268, 269 

Treaty With Kickapoos of 1809 279 

Treaty With Weas of 1809 278, 279 

Trotter, Colonel William (Ky.) 162, 164, 168 

Trueman, Major Alexander, Death of 210, 211 

Tupper, Brigadier-General 106 

Turkey Foot, Potawatomi Chief 74, 337 

Turkey Foot Grove, Benton and Newton Counties, Indiana 

25, 74, 337 

Turkeys, Wild 37, 86, 290 

Tuscaroras, Iroquois Tribe 97 

— u— 

"Uncles," (The Wyandots) 309 

Uniform of Fourth U. S. Regiment at Tippecanoe 360 

—V— 

Vanderburgh, Judge Henry 276 

Venereal Disorders Among Indians 60 

Vermilion, Big, River of 

20, 21, 27, 37, 44, 47, 72, 74, 76, 153, 154, 274, 279, 298, 366 

Vermilion County Indiana 20, 27, 35, 154, 279 

Vermilion of the Illinois 22 

"Vermilion Piankeshaws" 154, 160 

Vigo County, Indiana 18 

Vigo, Francis 351 

Vincennes, Town of, References to, 7, 10, 21, 30, 31, 34, 36, 38, 39, 69, 
75, 84, 120, 121, 124, 147, 153, 154, 158, 159, 160, 161, 172, 211, 
245, 248, 249, 255, 256, 267, 273, 276, 279, 291, 298, 301, 303, 305, 
307, 310, 316, 336, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 350, 352, 360, 365, 381 

Vincennes Treaty by General Rufus Putnam 211, 212 

Virginia Cession to General Government 84, 86, 92 

Virginians, References to 6, 84, 85, 86, 93, 121, 249, 250 

Voyageurs 9, 12 

— w— 

Wabash, Description of, By Thomas Hutchins, Geographer 

39, 40, 41, 42 



INDEX 421 



Wabash Railway, Indiana, Illinois 21 

Wabash, River of. References to 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 

11, 18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 
47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 59, 64, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 
77, 78, 79, 87, 91, 99, 115, 121, 134, 144, 145, 148, 152, 154, 
158, 160, 161, 175, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186, 187, 188, 192, 198, 
199, 212, 236, 246, 249, 255, 256, 263, 264, 268, 269, 279, 281, 
295, 296, 298, 306, 308, 313, 316, 321, 324, 333, 335, 340, 342, 
349, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 364, 365, 366, 369, 380, 381 

Wabunsee, "Looking Glass," Potawatomi Chief 76, 77 

Wallows, Buffalo 32 

Wampum 157 

Wapocconata (Wapakoneta), Ohio 57„ 275, 282, 308 

Wamock, Joseph, Death at Tippecanoe 382, 383 

Warren County, Indiana 20, 21, 22, 35, 279, 367, 381 

Warrick, Captain Jacob, at Tippecanoe 372, 377, 378, 379 

Washington County, Illinois 22 

Washington, George, References to 3, 7, 43, 

47, 51, 63, 65, 67, 85, 86, 88, 91, 94, 96, 103, 108, 110, 144, 
151, 153, 174, 193, 194, 207, 209, 210, 216, 220, 225, 226, 236 

Wattles, John, Benton County, Indiana 191 

Wayne, General Anthony, References to 3, 42, 43, 44, 52, 

53, 54, 56, 65, 67, 71, HO, 124, 163, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 
210, 216, 221, 222, 223, 226, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 
236, 239, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 309, 310, 315, 356, 367, 377 

Wea Creek, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 145, 183, 184 

Wea Plains, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 35, 183, 184, 192 

Wea Village at Terre Haute 312 

Weas, Tribe of. References to 35, 44, 53, 145, 147, 155, 156, 

160, 175, 182, 184, 185, 211, 241, 255, 256, 260, 263, 264, 267, 
273, 278, 279, 297, 310, 311, 319, 320, 329, 333, 343, 362, 364 

Wells, Major-General Samuel, (Ky.) 358, 366, 372, 378 

Wells, William, of Fort Wayne 

32, 78, 203, 241, 262, 283, 285, 338, 339 

Wergild, Among Indians 272, 273 

"Western Confederacy" 

"Western Sun," of Vincennes "75, 251, 336 

70 
Wetzel, Lewis 

Wheat at Vincennes 38, 41 

Whiskey, Among Indians, References to 74, 75, 76, 77, 95, 

140, 252, 256, 264, 271, 272, 278, 282, 298, 299, 301, 302, 303 



422 THE LAND OF THE MIAMIS 



White County, Indiana 22 

White Loon, Miami Chief 378, 388 

"White Man's Fly," Honey Bee 35 

White River, Indiana 37 

Wildcat 13 

Wildcat Creek, Tippecanoe Covmty, Indiana 37, 297 

Wild Rice 54 

Wilkinson, James, References to 

11, 38, 135, 185, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 204, 211 

Williams, Abraham, Interpreter 242 

Williamsport, Warren County, Indiana 381 

Wilson, George, Historian 29 

Wilson, Capt. Walter, Tippecanoe Officer 341, 343, 377 

Winamac, Potawatomi Chief 133, 254, 257, 

260, 264, 267, 307, 308, 318, 319, 322, 346, 364, 365, 369, 378 

Winnebagoes, Bravery at Tippecanoe 376 

Winnebagoes, Tribe of. .44, 298, 305, 325, 333, 340, 359, 361, 365, 376 

Witchcraft Among Indians 286 

Witherington, John, Captive of Indians 149 

Wolcott, Oliver, U. S. Commissioner 96 

Wolverine 13 

Wolves Hunting BuflFalo 31 

Wyandots, Leaders and Keepers of Great Belt 310 

Wyandots, Tribe of, References to 

4, 17, 18, 42, 44, 45, 55, 58, 59, 61, 63, 65, 70, 71, 

97, 98, 100, 107, 108, 110, 128,, 131, 139, 142, 159, 177, 180, 199, 
211, 219, 227, 231, 240, 241, 244, 282, 309, 310, 325, 333, 364 

Wyllys, Major John 48, 163, 167, 168, 170 

Wythe, George, of Virginia 6 

—X— 

No References. 

— Y— 

Yellow Jackets of Harrison County, Indiana 36, 372, 376 

York, Duke of 81 

— Z— 

Zane, Isaac, Interpreter 242 



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